Police: 2 bicyclists struck by driver in Franklin Township

FRANKLIN TWP., N.J. (WPVI) -- Police say a motorist has been charged with a controlled substance after he ran down a husband and wife, out for a bike ride.

It happened Wednesday afternoon along the 1200 block of Delsea Drive in Franklin Township, New Jersey.

A Pittsgrove, Salem County man is in stable condition, but his wife is in critical condition at Cooper University Hospital.

Police say it was shortly after 2 p.m. when the couple, 57-year-old Susan Kinnan and her husband 62-year-old husband, John, were riding their bikes along the southbound shoulder. That's when they were struck by a man in a silver Hyundai, identified as 41-year-old Emilio Ortega of Monroeville, New Jersey.

The accident happen just north of Danny's Pizza Pizzazz where Christina Deschler was having lunch when she noticed cars starting to pull to the side of the road.

"There were so many cars pulled over trying to help that we couldn't make out what had happen," said Deschler. "A couple of police officers came in and people that were helping at the scene and they explained that two people on bicycles were hit by a car."

The impact sent the woman on the bicycle into the driver side windshield, which was visibly damaged.

A helicopter was sent in to transport the victims to Cooper Medical Center in Camden.

The roadway between Pennsylvania and Malaga Park Drive was shutdown, forcing motorists to detour for three hours as police conducted their investigation.

Emilio Ortega stopped at the scene and was taken into custody. He is now charged with two counts of assault by auto and possession of a controlled dangerous substance.