UpdatedThu, Dec 31, 2020 at 9:14 am ET Reply Retired Seaside Heights Police Capt. Gerald LaStella also was chief police instructor at the Ocean County Police Academy. (Shutterstock) SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ — Funeral services have been set for Jan. 4 and 5 for retired Seaside Heights Police Capt. Gerald LaStella, who died Christmas morning. The Seaside Heights Police Department said the viewing will be 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Jan. 4 at Ryan Home for Funerals on St. Catherine Boulevard, Toms River, with the funeral at 10 a.m. Jan. 5 at St. Catherine's Roman Catholic Church, Seaside Park. LaStella served on the Seaside Heights force for 26 years, following in his father's footsteps, and later was the chief police instructor at the Ocean County Police Academy. He started his career as a dispatcher in 1968 and was hired as a police officer in 1970. He graduated from the Municipal Police Academy in Sea Girt in June 1970, according to an Asbury Park Press report at the time. He was promoted to captain in 1986, and retired from the force Dec. 31, 1993, Borough Administrator Christopher Vaz said.