Traffic Accidents Claim Two This Weekend

Traffic accidents claimed two lives last night and early this morning, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office announced today.

Authorities had closed off a section of Rt. 21 North after a 21-year-old Newark man struck the center median near the Grafton Avenue exit while driving a Toyota around 9:30 pm. The car flipped over, killing the passenger, Juan Martinez, a 24-year-old city man. 

The driver, whose name was not released, was treated for non-life-threatening injuries at University Hospital.

At 2:30 this morning, 54-year-old Desmond Sydney, of Irvington, was riding a bicycle at Springfield Avenue and Pierce Street when he was struck by a 39-year-old city resident driving a Ford Explorer. The name of the driver in this incident was also not released.

The Explorer was traveling west on Springfield Avenue when it turned on to Pierce Street hitting the bicyclist. Sydney was pronounced dead at University Hospital a short time later.

Neither driver has been charged. The Essex County Prosecutor's Office Homicide/Major Crime Task Force and the Newark Police Department are investigating  the incidents.