Woodbridge Police Officer Killed In Car Crash Will Be Buried Tuesday

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — Michael Tenpenny, the 31-year-old Woodbridge Police officer killed in an off-duty car crash Tuesday night, will be buried next Tuesday, Dec. 16.

A visitation for family and friends will be held 3 to 7 p.m. the night before, Dec. 15, at Costello-Greiner Funeral Home on Green Street in Woodbridge, according to his obituary. A funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Saint John Vianney Catholic Church in Colonia, and he will be buried at Rosehill Crematory in Linden.

The fatal car accident that took his life occurred at 10:09 p.m. on Peter J. Sica Industrial Highway in Carteret, near Bristol Station Court. There were two cars involved, a tractor trailer and a pick-up truck driven by Tenpenny, said a spokeswoman for the Middlesex County prosecutor.

There were no criminal charges filed in the crash, which remains under investigation by Carteret Police and the county prosecutor. As is standard protocol, blood was taken from both drivers for toxicology tests.

Tenpenny was a seven-year veteran of the Woodbridge Police Dept. Along with his family, Tenpenny was a lifelong Woodbridge resident, living in the Iselin section. He graduated from John F. Kennedy Memorial High School in 2012, where he was a four-year varsity letter winner in football, earning All Division, All Area and First Team All-Middlesex County honors in 2011, according to his obituary. Tenpenny continued to play football for Montclair State University, where he was team captain, and from which he graduated with a degree in criminal justice.

He was hired as a Woodbridge Police officer in 2018 and was assigned to the Radio Patrol Division. He was also a member of the Woodbridge Police SWAT team.

Woodbridge Police Officer Killed In Off-Duty Crash (Dec. 10)