Teen suspect in Cranford fatal hit-and-run case to be tried as adult
The 17-year-old Cranford High School seniors, Isabella Rose Salas and Maria Niotis, were struck on Sept. 29, 2025, at about 5:26 p.m. on Burnside Avenue.
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An 18-year-old Garwood man will be tried as an adult in connection with the deaths of two teenage girls who were struck by a vehicle while riding an electric bicycle in Cranford last year, authorities announced Friday.
Vincent Battiloro, whose identity had previously been withheld because he was a juvenile at the time of the incident, has been waived to adult court and is charged with two counts of murder, according to the Union County Prosecutor's Office.
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The 17-year-old Cranford High School seniors, Isabella Rose Salas and Maria Niotis, were struck on Sept. 29, 2025, just before 5:30 p.m. on Burnside Avenue.
Cranford police received a report of a vehicle hitting two juvenile females riding an electric bicycle. The girls were taken to hospitals, where they were later pronounced dead.
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Following what prosecutors described as a comprehensive investigation, Battiloro was taken into custody by members of the Union County Prosecutor's Office and the Cranford Police Department. His case will now proceed through the Criminal Part of the Superior Court in Union County.
Prosecutors allege that Battiloro intentionally struck the girls in an attempt to harm them.
