Crime & Safety
Decision to Try Teen Driver in Fatal Car Crash as Adult Could Take Weeks
The Essex County Prosecutor's Office is awaiting a decision on its application to try the Millburn teen involved in the car wreck that killed Ari Vuotila as an adult.
It could be several weeks before a judge decides on whether a Millburn teenager charged in a fatal car crash will be tried as an adult.
The 17-year-old driver in a Jan. 27 car crash that killed 39-year-old South Orange resident Ari Vuotila has been charged with aggravated manslaughter. The teen's name has not been released because he is a juvenile. He's to be tried in family court, but prosecutors are seeking a waiver so the teenager can be tried in adult court.
Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, said Thursday that the application for a waiver had been filed with a judge. When a decision is made is at the judge's discretion, he said, but it would be within the next couple of weeks.
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The maximum the teenager could serve is four years in a youth detention facility if tried as a juvenile. He would face 10 to 30 years in prison if tried as an adult.
When asked if other charges could be filed, Loriquet said the prosecutor's office is "limited to this for now."
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The teenager was driving a Jeep Cherokee that crashed into a Nissan Versa driven by Vuotila at the intersection of Long Hill Drive and Parsonage Hill Road in Short Hills. He turned himself in at the Millburn Police Department last week, accompanied by his attorney, Michael D'Alessio.
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