Off-duty North Jersey cop killed in Route 3 crash

EAST RUTHERFORD — An off-duty Union City police officer was killed in a four-car crash late Saturday on Route 3.

Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal said Sgt. Mark Zeitounian, 44, of Lyndhurst was killed in the collision in the eastbound lanes of the Hackensack River Bridge just after 11 p.m. that injured five people.

No charges have yet been filed, according to Grewal, who did not offer details about the circumstances of the crash that closed the highway for about 8 hours.

On its Facebook page the Union City Police Department mourned the loss of a "good man" who  was married with a son. "Mark, was a knowledgeable police officer and supervisor who you could always count on to get the job done. He passed on his knowledge by serving as a training officer for newly hired officers," the department wrote in its post.

Zeitounian was a 1991 graduate of Union City High School and has worked in the Union City department since 1999 after graduating with Bergen County Police Academy Class #84, according to the department.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com.

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