Just over a week after being charged with driving while intoxicated in a fatal motor vehicle accident, a Southold teacher has retired from her job of over 20 years.
On Wednesday night, the Southold school board of education passed a resolution accepting the retirement of Diane O’Neill, 65, a longtime math teacher who once headed up the honors society.
The board voted on the resolution with no comment.
“This is a very unfortunate situation. My heart goes out to all those involved,” Southold Superintendent David Gamberg told SoutholdLOCAL Thursday morning in an email.
The retirement is effective immediately, Gamberg said. “She was a well loved and highly respected teacher,” he said.
O’Neill, of Farmingville, appeared last week before Judge Allen Smith at Riverhead Justice Court with her attorney, Glenn Riegler of Melville. The case was adjourned to Wednesday morning, Feb. 25. O’Neill remains free on $10,000 bail, posted by her son following her initial arraignment on a misdemeanor driving while intoxicated charge, to which she has entered a plea of not guilty.
Police accuse O’Neill of being drunk when she hit George Kurovics, 90, with her westbound 2007 Mercedes-Benz on Main Road near Herricks Lane in Jamesport at about 7:15 p.m. on January 13.
Kurovics was in the road after picking up the body of his cat who had been hit by another vehicle in an earlier incident, according to Riverhead Police Chief David Hegermiller.
Police officers drew the defendant’s blood to test for alcohol content following the accident. The results of that blood test have not yet been revealed, according to court records.
Editor’s note: A criminal charge is an accusation. By law, a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
