Disrespectful dog owner Paul Scheuplein is ‘pissing off’ the wrong neighbor

The quiet streets of suburban Wayne Township have become a proving ground for a disturbing question: Does political friendship place a man above the law? The answer, if the experience of one decorated Marine veteran is any indication, appears to be yes.

Stewart Resmer, a 73-year-old Vietnam-era Marine who earned four bronze stars and the Vietnam Service Medal, has spent months documenting a campaign of intimidation at the hands of a neighbor who, according to multiple sources, enjoys a personal friendship with Mayor Christopher P. Vergano.

That mean-spirited neighbor is Paul Scheuplein, a CPA and corporate controller who resides at 73 New Street. The target of his alleged harassment is Resmer and his neighbor, Barbara Sudovar, who live at 82 New Street.

The conflict is not complicated. Township ordinances are clear: no dog may go upon the lawn or property of another without permission. Owners must immediately remove feces. No dog may damage the grounds or property of another.

Scheuplein and his wife, Darlina Pisano-Scheuplein, have apparently decided these laws do not apply to them. Resmer has documented a pattern of violations stretching back months, with multiple emails sent to the mayor’s office detailing the ongoing saga.

The persistence of complaints and documented property damage proves the discourteous conduct is not a fabrication.

Then came the confrontation.

The situation reached a boiling point recently when Scheuplein, reportedly emboldened by his alleged connection to Vergano, confronted Resmer with the challenge: “What are you going to do about it?”

This rhetorical question was accompanied by what Resmer described as a suspicious reach into his right front pocket, a gesture that suggested he had a small firearm, which sent shockwaves through the neighborhood.

According to witnesses, Scheuplein’s alleged gesture required intervention. The police were called. A harassment complaint is forthcoming.

The arrogance is breathtaking. Scheuplein and his wife have apparently claimed “unmitigated rights” to allow their dog to do as it pleases, consequences be damned.

Scheuplein is licensed to practice as a public accountant in the state of New Jersey, but he has undertaken what appears to be an intentional crusade of discord.

Mayor Christopher Vergano finds himself dragged into this tawdry affair by virtue of an old friendship that apparently comes with unexpected liabilities.

However, the mayor’s reaction upon learning that his name has been invoked as a shield for threatening behavior might be tempered by the fact that Vergano’s email address, mayor@waynetownship.com, which is reserved for official business, illegally blocked messages from this particular constituent.

Officials at the municipal health department and animal control bureau refused to verify that Scheuplein or anyone at 73 New Street has a valid dog license without a former Open Public Records Act request.

NJTODAY.NEWS has filed an OPRA request seeking all citations issued for violation of Ord. No. 53-2014, along with email exchanges among municipal officials that mention Resmer, Sudovar, or 82 New Street. 

Those “private emails” might not remain private for much longer. Phone logs, too, could become public documents, so we will let you know if the story takes an even more interesting turn. 

The irony is almost too rich to ignore. A man who claims to walk his dog freely finds himself tangled in a mess of his own making.

Records viewed by NJTODAY.NEWS, show that the police directed Scheuplein to steer clear of the home where Resmer and Sudovar maintain a manicured lawn, but the controller at Seamates International, an international freight shipping company based in East Rutherford, seems determined to chart his own course through the treacherous waters of neighborly relations.

Resmer is no stranger to standing up for what is right.

In 2018, he gained national attention after removing a Confederate flag from a shuttered banquet hall in Wayne, replacing it with the American flag. “The battle flag of the Confederacy is not going to fly around here if I can do anything about it,” he said at the time.

Resmer, a decorated Vietnam veteran who served in the Marine Corps from 1969 to 1970 and one of roughly 1,500 wartime veterans in Wayne, alleges the harassment is retaliation for his activism and Democratic Party ties in a township led by Republican Mayor Vergano.

Resmer earned multiple Bronze Stars, the prestigious U.S. military decoration awarded for heroic bravery in ground combat against a foreign enemy force, and he has positioned himself as a watchdog against local government corruption, often leveraging OPRA to expose alleged governmental secrecy.

Now he finds himself fighting a different battle: one for the simple right to peace and property in his own neighborhood.

The citizens of this town deserve better than to have their peace disturbed by someone who mistakes familiarity with authority for actual authority.

And the dog, poor creature, simply wants to take a walk.