Cop car hits and kills 12-year-old boy in NJ

FAIR LAWN — A 12-year-old boy was fatally struck by a marked Bergen County Sheriff’s Department vehicle on Route 208 on Sunday night.

Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo said the boy was crossing Route 208 southbound near the Fair Lawn Avenue exit ramp from east to west with a group of other boys around 9 p.m. He was struck by the vehicle,a 2010 Chevrolet Tahoe, driven by Michael Sansevere, a Bergen County sheriff's officer who was on patrol in the area, Calo said.

There is no sidewalk and limited shoulder area along the road.

Sansevere was taken to a Hackensack University Medical Center for evaluation and released, according to Calo. He has served with the sheriff's office for about 10 years.

Fair Lawn police told NorthJersey.com one of the boys in the group was the deceased boy's brother. The identity of the deceased boy was not disclosed but Fair Lawn school superintendent Nicholas Norcia said he was a student at Thomas Jefferson Middle School.

Fair Lawn public schools are closed this week for spring break but counselors will be available at the school on Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“As a father, this is the unthinkable and my heart goes out to the family. I ask anyone who reads this to hug your loved ones a little tighter today," Norcia said in a statement.

The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office is investigating the incident but did not immediately return a message.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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