Wyckoff police say driver pretending to be brother had drugs, warrant, no license

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A Hawthorne man stopped by Wyckoff police for driving with his high beams on was arrested after he pretended to be his brother, authorities said.

Jerry DeMarco

08/14/2014 4:11 p.m.

Patrolman Kyle Ferreira stopped 34-year-old Joseph S. Lineberg on Route 208 just before midnight over the weekend.

Saying that he didn’t have his license with him, Lineberg identified himself as his brother, Police Chief Benjamin C. Fox said this morning.

A computer search “showed some inconsistencies in the truthfulness of it,” Fox said.

After Ferreira learned his real identity, he discovered that Lineburg’s driver license was suspended and there was an active warrant for his arrest from Mahwah.

He was also carrying a small amount of Oxycodone and generic Xanax, the chief said.

Lineberg posted $20,000 bail and was released pending a Sept. 4 Municipal Court hearing on charges of driving with a suspended license, providing false information to police, failing to inspect the car, improperly using high beams and possession of the prescription pills.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy WYCKOFF PD

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