Charges have been upgraded for a Union City man who killed a North Bergen woman in a car crash last spring, with a grand jury now indicting him on aggravated manslaughter, authorities said.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Yesterday, Jonathan Ortiz-Guananga, 26, surrendered without incident to members of the Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit and was charged with aggravated manslaughter, a first-degree crime, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez announced.
The grand jury also indicted Ortiz-Guananga on the charges of death by auto and aggravated assault, a fourth-degree crime for which he had been previously charged and arrested.
He was arraigned on all the charges as contained within the indictment yesterday afternoon in Hudson County Superior Court.
He has also been previously charged with violations of Title 39. These violations are speeding, driving while intoxicated, failure to maintain a marked traffic lane, and reckless driving.
Suarez credited the Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit with the investigation and arrest and the Jersey City Police Department for assisting with the investigation.
On Sunday, May 5th, 2019, at approximately 7:15 a.m., Jersey City police officers were dispatched to Paterson Plank Road, just south of the Congress Street intersection, on a report of a motor vehicle collision.
Upon arrival, the responding officers discovered two vehicles were involved in a collision.
The first vehicle was a 2008 Ford Edge operated by Adriana Riano, 32, containing a 30-year-old male passenger. The second vehicle was a 2015 Dodge Charger operated by Ortiz-Guananga of Union City.
All three individuals were transported by Emergency Medical Services to Jersey City Medical Center.
Riano was pronounced dead at approximately 3:15 p.m. Her passenger was treated for non-life threatening injuries, while Ortiz-Guananga was treated for injuries related to severe leg trauma.
