VEHICULAR HOMICIDE CHARGED IN CYCLIST’S DEATH

Emilio Ortega age 41, of Monroeville has been charged with death by auto in a 2/15 collision in Franklin Township NJ of a car he was driving with a 57-year-old bicycle rider, who subsequently died after sustaining critical injuries. Ortega was initially charged with two counts of assault by auto and with unlawful possession of a controlled dangerous substance (Xanax)  on the day of the collision, which critically injured Susan L. Kinnan age 57 and also injured her husband, John D. Kinnan Jr.  age 62. The couple was riding bicycles south on the shoulder of Delsea Drive (Route 47) when struck by the 2013 Hyndai Elantra that Ortega was driving south on the highway. Mr. Kinnan has been discharged from Cooper Hospital, Camden.  Mrs. Kinnan died at Cooper, where she had been airlifted.

The complaint Franklin Township police signed against Ortega on 2/20 accuses him of “driving a vehicle recklessly” and causing Susan Kinnan’s death, in violation of statute 2C:39:4-50 The crash is being investigated by the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office and the Franklin Township Police Department.

Ortega is being held in the Salem County Jail.