The limo driver involved in a fatal crash that killed four women and left four others severely injured in July has filed a notice of claim against Southold Town.
Islandia-based attorneys Davis & Ferber, LLP filed the notice of claim with Southold Town Clerk Elizabeth Neville today on behalf of client Carlos Pino, of Old Bethpage, the limo driver involved in the July 18 crash.
According to the notice of claim, Pino sustained personal injuries due to “negligence” on the part of the town; the town, the notice of claim states, “was careless, reckless and negligent in causing, allowing and permitting a dangerous and defective condition to exist on Route 48 and Depot Lane.”
The notice of claim alleges that there are “no traffic control devices, lights, and/or traffic signs,” and said the “speed limit at or near the intersection was dangerously excessive.”
In addition, the notice of claim continues, Pino was “lawfully traveling on Route 48 eastbound attempting to make a U-turn at said intersection with Depot Lane so as to travel west on Route 48 when his vehicle was struck by a vehicle that was traveling west on Route 48.”
The collision, the notice of claim states, caused Pino to “sustain severe personal bodily injuries,” including a “fractured left hand requiring surgical intervention, neck, back and head injuries, extensive psychological and emotional trauma,” and the need for continued medical treatment and care.
The limo in which the eight young women were traveling was struck by Peconic resident Steve Romeo, 55.
Romeo was charged with driving while intoxicated after the crash but later, toxicology results indicated that his his blood alcohol level was .066, less than the legal limit.
Pino was not charged; his blood was tested and no presence of alcohol or drugs was found, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said.
The notice of claim is the latest of many filed after the crash.
Last month, a notice of claim was filed with Neville by New York-based attorneys Block, O’Toole & Murphy LLP, representing Arthur Belli, who filed the legal proceedings after Stephanie Belli, 23, of Kings Park, died in the crash.
The notice of claim against Southold Town and Suffolk County says that Belli died due to “recklessness, carelessness, and gross negligence” of both the town and county, due to unsafe conditions at the intersection of Route 48 and Depot Lane in Cutchogue that the legal document says led to the crash.
The words echo the notices of claim filed by the families of the other young women who died or were badly injured in the crash, which took place after a day spent wine tasting on the North Fork, with a stop at Vineyard 48.
The limo in which the young women were riding was T-boned as the driver of the limo tried to make a U-turn and was hit by Romeo.
Alicia Arundel, 24, injured in the accident and represented by the Mineola-based Bongiorno Law Firm and attorney Brandon Cruz, filed a notice of claim seeking damages for “personal injuries and emotional suffering sustained on July 18.”
As a result of the accident, the notice of claim states that Arundel sustained “multiple severe serious and permanent injuries” including, but not limited to, a fractured, crushed left humerus, which required surgery, facial lacerations, severe emotional distress and psychological damages, “and other serious injuries, loss of enjoyment from life, and expenses for medical care.”
The notice of claim alleges that the town and Suffolk County failed to install the “proper and necessary” traffic control devices, despite the fact that the intersection was “dangerous” and that limousines were “known” to make U turns into oncoming traffic on Route 48.
Those allegations were echoed throughout the legal proceedings that have commenced so far, with each stating that the town and county knew that the intersection was dangerous.
Southold Town was hit with another notice of claim filed on September 2 by attorney Frank Laine of Plainview, representing Mindy Grabina, mother of Amy Grabina, 23, of Commack, who died in the accident. The notice of claim states that Grabina suffered fatal injuries due to “negligence, carelessness, and recklessness” on the part of the town.
Another notice of claim was filed against the town and county on August 19 by East Northport attorney John Juliano, representing the estate and family of Brittney M. Schulman, 23, of Smithtown, who suffered from, according to the notice, from “blunt force head trauma, multiple blunt impact injuries, massive internal injuries, and death.”
The emotional pain and suffering caused by the accident impacts entire families and communities, Juliano said. “It’s a ripple effect. Like a stone cast into the water,” he said.
A notice of claim was also filed by Joelle Dimonte, 25, of Elwood. Earlier in August, Cutchogue attorney Bob Sullivan said the notice of claim was filed against the Southold Town and Suffolk County on behalf of Steve Baruch, father of Lauren Baruch, 24, Smithtown.
“I have an office in Cutchogue,” Sullivan said. “All the residents have sent emails, gone to meetings, sent letters over the years saying this was going to happen.” He said residents have asked for a “no U turn” sign and traffic light for years. “The bottom line is that the town and county dropped the ball.”
He added, “Isn’t it sad, now we’re going to get the light, but we had to lose four young girls to do so? What are people doing in the county if they’re not listening to residents?”
Sullivan said both the driver of the limo and of the pickup truck would later be named in the suit.
Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said, in an interview with SoutholdLOCAL, that while he could not comment on the specifics of the litigation, “The town is well-insured on all claims.”
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said he could not comment on pending litigation.
One week after the accident, Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski said a traffic light would be installed at the deadly intersection of Route 48 and Depot Lane where the limo crash took place; residents are outraged that although the light has been installed, it has no green lefthand turn arrow.
The intersection has long been a source of concern to residents.
After a neighbor reached out to department of public works in May, discussions began, Krupski said. The department of public works had actually begun the process of collecting traffic data a year ago to justify the new light, Krupski said.
Neighbor Susan Tyler said the accident at the intersection was one neighbors have been dreading for years. “It was only a matter of time,” she said. “We’ve been saying for years that it would happen, but still hoped that it never would, and now it has.”
Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley, at the accident site, agreed. “This is what we’ve always been afraid of.”
The limo driver, he said, tried to make a U turn and head west on Route 48 when he was struck by a pickup. “It was a dangerous move,” he said.
Limos making such turns take up two to three lanes and pose a danger on area roads, Flatley said, one reason why the town has been cautioning against potential tragedy on Route 48 for years.
At the end of July, the first litigation was announced when one of the four women who survived the deadly accident commenced a lawsuit. According to her attorney, Jason Paris of Paris & Chaikin PLLC in New York, a summons and complaint was filed in New York State Supreme Court in Kings County on behalf of his client Olga Lipets, 24, of Brooklyn against Romeo, his company Romeo Dimone Marine, limo driver Carlos F. Pino and Ultimate Class Limousine, Inc.
His client, Paris said, has been released from intensive care and is recovering from her injuries, which include multiple fractures in her left leg, with surgical inserts, and a broken jaw which is still wired shut. Also, he said, Lipets suffered “emotional trauma,” the extent of which is still unknown.
Paris said while nothing can ever adequately compensate for what the victims endured, the “hope is to find some measure of justice.”
The young women who lost their lives in the accident were Schulman, Baruch, Belli, and Grabina.
Also injured in the accident were Pino, 58, Dimonte, Melissa Angela Crai, 23, of Scarsdale, and Arundel.
