CUTCHOGUE, N.Y. (AP) — A driver whose pickup truck slammed into a limousine in Long Island wine country, killing four young women, is being held on $500,000 bail after pleading not guilty at his hospital arraignment.
Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota, his top investigators and Southold Town police Chief Martin Flatley appeared at the crash intersection in Cutchogue ahead of the midday media briefing Monday.
Flowers have been placed at a makeshift memorial on a traffic island.
Steven Romeo was arraigned Sunday on a misdemeanor DWI charge at Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport.
His lawyer, Dan O’Brien, offered condolences and said his client had remained at the crash scene. “It’s a tough situation,” O’Brien said.
Spota, in an interview with The Associated Press, disputed the lawyer’s contention, saying Romeo fled the crash scene and was found hiding in a nearby wooded area following the crash. He said he would discuss the case at the briefing later Monday.
Flatley identified the dead as Brittany M. Schulman, 23, of Smithtown, on Long Island’s North Shore; Lauren Baruch, 24, also of Smithtown; Stephanie Belli, 23, of nearby Kings Park; and Amy R. Grabina, 23, of Commack, also on the North Shore.
Four other women and the limo driver were hospitalized.
The longtime friends had been at a winery on Long Island’s East End on Saturday afternoon. Several dozen wineries scattered throughout the region feature wine tastings, including live music on summer weekends. The wineries are about 75 to 100 miles east of New York City.
Their driver was trying to make a U-turn at an intersection along Route 48 in Cutchogue when the pickup hit the limo broadside, authorities said.
The intersection has long concerned residents because of the convergence of limousines making U-turns amid oncoming traffic on the rural road, according to Newsday.
It was the second Long Island crash with multiple fatalities in a week.
On July 12, a man and his two children, ages 8 and 4, were killed when their car was rear-ended and burst into flames on the Southern State Parkway in Bay Shore. His wife, the children’s mother, escaped without physical injury. The other motorist was charged with driving while intoxicated.
