Correctional police officer is NJ’s 12th cop to die with COVID-19
A Hudson County correctional police officer is the latest cop in the state and the third in the past week to die after contracting the COVID-19 virus, according to the N.J. State PBA.
Officer Zeb Craig, 56, a seven-year veteran of the Hudson County Corrections and Rehabilitation Center in Kearny, died Sunday after returning home from an Essex County hospital.
He is the fourth worker at the facility in Kearny to die from the virus. Officer Bernard Wadell and nurse Daisy Doronila also lost their lives. NorthJersey.com reported that the head of the commissary also died.
All employees at state prisons are being tested, Gov. Phil Murphy announced on April 30.
Craig was remembered on the Glen Rock PBA Local 110 Facebook page "for his big heart for everyone he encountered."
Hudson County Corrections Director Ron Edwards told the Hudson County View that Craig appeared stoic but just the opposite once you got to know him. Craig had been released from the hospital a week ago and was feeling better before his death. He was married and had a daughter.
A funeral for Glen Ridge police Officer Charles "Rob" Roberts who died on Monday from the virus, is scheduled for Thursday at noon at the borough Municipal Building followed by a procession to Rosedale Cemetery in Montclair.
Newark police Sgt. Michael Clegg died on Sunday from COVID-19, according to Newark police.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The headline on an earlier version of this story should have said 12 law enforcement deaths have been tied to COVID-19.
Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ
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