Then there was a roar, and 20 motorcycles appeared, two at a time, to escort the body of the fallen officer through the streets of Newark where he had spent, and then given, his life.  In thick rows of blue and gray, officers quietly saluted as the bagpipes wailed, and the pallbearers carried the flag-draped coffin up three steps, then four, then three more, and into the grand Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, where about 1,600 people, including Gov. Jon S. Corzine and Mayor Cory A. Booker, gathered to pay their respects.  Hundreds more officers watched from the auditorium of Barringer High School next door, which Sergeant Popolizio had attended.  “We all do the same work,” said John Phipps, an officer from Nassau County, who sat with his hat off and his head bowed as the service unfolded on a big screen. “The danger is always there. I wanted to let the other departments know that they’re not here by themselves.”  Sergeant Popolizio was killed on Saturday as he chased William Danlo Rodriguez through the streets of the East Ward. Mr. Rodriguez is accused of stealing a patrol car in circumstances that are still under investigation. During the chase, the sport utility vehicle Sergeant Popolizio was driving flipped, and the police said that Mr. Rodriguez might have rammed the sergeant’s car.  Now Sergeant Popolizio’s family sat in the first rows of pews: his widow and the mother of their four children, Nereida; his father, Nicola; and his brother, Pasquale.  Another brother, Officer Nicola B. Popolizio, died after suffering a heart attack in December at age 38.  During the service, a police officer brought the family a box of tissues and a jug of water. A young girl played in the aisle, and another child found a shoulder to nap on. Pasquale Popolizio rested a white-gloved hand on his father’s back.  Across the aisle, Governor Corzine sat with Mayor Booker and Mr. McCarthy. Since 2003, three Newark officers have been killed in the line of duty.  Sergeant Popolizio was the first officer to be killed since Mr. Booker took office, and the mayor spoke passionately of him. “He was, in the proudest provincial sense, a true Newarker,” he said. “He was a scion of these streets.”  Then Mr. McCarthy took his turn, at times letting his anger flare. “Events as tragic as these are never singular events,” he said. “We’re very quick to try and assess blame. To try and figure out why. To point fingers.”  Early Saturday, Mr. Rodriguez was arrested during a police crackdown on drag races when he tossed a gun out of a car window as officers approached, the police said. Handcuffed but apparently left unguarded, he managed to steal the patrol car, the police said, leading to the chase. He has pleaded not guilty to charges including aggravated manslaughter.  Friends say Sergeant Popolizio went by the nickname “Pop” or “Poppo.” He liked paintball, and played third base in softball. He called his friend Tommy Easterling “Captain Caveman,” because of his big feet. He helped with the Christmas toy drive.  He worked out of several different precincts, and in gang and narcotics units. The work took a mental toll, Officer Easterling said, and his friend was fond of talking about the vacations he dreamed of.  When the service had ended, and the pipers had finished playing “The Minstrel Boy,” Mayor Booker stood outside the cathedral, megaphone in hand, and addressed his police officers again: “We have lost one of our own. God as my witness, we cannot lose another.”  The motorcycles led the way to Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, followed by more than 150 other vehicles. At the gravesite, Sergeant Popolizio’s colleagues saluted him one more time, and his family tossed roses on his coffin.  Vanessa Rosenberg was at the service with her husband, Ian Rosenberg, a New Jersey state trooper. “Anyone has to cry when you hear the bagpipes,” Ms. Rosenberg said.  And the show of support for the sergeant’s family moved her to say: “It is a little bit comforting to know that they’ll be there for me if it’s my turn. I mean, I pray it won’t be.”  Because of an editing error, a picture yesterday with an article about the funeral of Sgt. Tommaso Popolizio of the Newark Police Department, who died on Saturday in a car chase, carried an erroneous credit. The photograph of police officers mourning was by Todd Heisler of The New York Times, not by Richard Perry of The Times. (Mr. Perry took the picture of Officer Johnny Banks holding Sergeant Popolizio’s hat.)  Andrew Jacobs and Nate Schweber contributed reporting.  A version of this article appears in print on , on Page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: In Sea of Blue and Gray, Tears for a Fallen Sergeant. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
Thousands in Newark honored Sgt. Tommaso Popolizio, who was killed last week after his car flipped during a chase.