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Sergeant

Tommaso Popolizio

Newark Police Division — Newark, NJ

Accident

End of Watch March 3, 2007

Age 33

Tour of Duty 12 yrs

The Vigil Panel 155 ›

Gender Male

Incident Media Service The Sacrifice Memorials 1 Department 57

Incident

Sergeant Tommaso Popolizio died from injuries sustained when his patrol car rolled during a vehicle pursuit.

At approximately 3:00 am Sergeant Popolizio responded with several officers to a call of drag racing on Doremus Avenue. The officers arrested a male after seeing him throw a gun into a bush. He was handcuffed behind his back and placed in the back seat of a squad car. The suspect was able to move his hand to the front of his body and climb through an opening in a Plexiglas partition. The suspect then stole the patrol car.

Sergeant Popolizio pursued the suspect in a marked Ford Explorer SUV. During the ensuing chase the stolen police vehicle and Sergeant Popolizio's SUV collided near the corner of Doremus Street and Wilson Street, causing the SUV to roll several times. Sergeant Popolizio was taken to University Hospital after the crash where he died from his injuries.

The stolen patrol car was abandoned near the crash scene. A Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police officer found the suspect hiding in some bushes nearby and took him into custody. He was charged with murder and a number of other offenses and subsequently sentenced to 30 years.

Sergeant Popolizio had served with the Newark Police Department for 12 years.

Survivors

He is survived by his wife, four children, and a brother, who is also a Newark Police Sergeant.

In Our Keeping

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Added to badge.nw: August 2, 2026
Last updated: August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Sergeant Popolizio gave the Newark Police Division 12 years.
Thank you for your service to the Newark community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Popolizio.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Newark Police Division

Type Police Department

Location Newark, Essex County, NJ

Platform Identity npd.essex.nj.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch March 3, 2007

Tour of Duty 12 yrs

Age 33

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Cause Detail Vehicle pursuit

Weapon Automobile

The Sacrifice · Accident

Tommaso is one of 8,275 officers lost to accidents in the United States, 30% of the 27,551 remembered there.

33,917 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

Compare against

Time

In 2007, 94 officers in the United States were lost to accidents, the 11th heaviest of 174 years on record. The heaviest was 1929, with 118.

Every year on record · United States

Who

Tommaso was 33. Of the 7,718 lost to accidents in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 29 and 46; the middle age was 36. Tommaso had served 12 years; the middle length of service was 6 years.

Age at death

Where he stood among them

Age by years of service

III

When

March holds 7.4% of these deaths in the United States; August holds the most, 9.5%. Saturdays: 14.9%.

By month

By day of the week

How

Accident deaths account for 30% of all 27,551 deaths in the United States, the 2nd most common cause. The weapon recorded was automobile, in 6.9% of these deaths.

Every cause

Weapons recorded