Hackensack police chief arrested, sources say

HACKENSACK, N.J.

Sources tell Eyewitness News that an indictment will be unsealed on Friday, charging Chief Zisa in an insurance fraud investigation.

The charges stem from an incident way back in February 2008 when his then-girlfriend was involved in a car accident in a vehicle registered to the chief.

The woman, sources say, struck a utility pole while driving the chief's car that night.

According to the prosecutors office, Zisa allegedly ordered the officers at the scene to write in their report that his girlfriend, Kathleen Tiernan, had swerved to avoid an animal, and that's how she hit the pole.

Officers on the scene told Zisa that they had smelled alcohol on the woman's breath and that she had told them nothing about swerving to avoid an animal. Tiernan was not given a breathalyzer test after the accident.

An insurance claim was then filed for damages in the crash, and that lead to the insurance fraud charges, sources said.

An indictment against Zisa is expected to be unsealed on Friday.

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