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Charges against pickup truck driver in deadly limo crash deemed ‘sufficient’ as pretrial hearings are set for September

Pretrial hearings have been set in the prosecution of Steven Romeo of Peconic, the driver of a pickup truck that broadsided a stretch limo as it attempted to make a U-turn on County Road 48 in Cutchogue last July.

State Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho today ruled the charges against Romeo legally sufficient, Spota’s spokesperson Robert Clifford said this afternoon.  The judge granted Romeo’s motion to sever his case from that of the driver of the limousine for purposes of trial. Both men were charged under the same indictment, handed down in March by a Suffolk County grand jury after a five-month investigation.

Four young women who were passengers in the limousine were killed in the crash, which also injured the four other female passengers, the limo driver and Romeo.

Romeo was arrested by police at the scene and charged with driving while intoxicated. In March, he was indicted by the grand jury on both driving while intoxicated and driving while ability impaired charges. He has pleaded not guilty to both.

The  indictment leveled multiple homicide and assault charges against the limo driver, Carlos Pino, 58, of Old Bethpage. Pino had not been charged by police, but the grand jury investigation found that Pino was responsible for the crash by making a dangerous U-turn at the intersection of CR 48 and Depot Lane, according to Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota. Pino steered his eastbound limousine into westbound traffic in a way that made it impossible for the pickup truck to stop in time, Spota said at a March press conference announcing the indictment.

A top-down photograph of a five-hour police reconstruction of the scene, which led investigators to the conclusion that Pino had unsafely attempted the u-turn. Photo: Katie Blasl
A top-down photograph of a five-hour police reconstruction of the scene, which led investigators to the conclusion that Pino had unsafely attempted the u-turn. Photo: Katie Blasl

“Pino failed to take any precaution or action to make sure he could safely enter the westbound traffic lanes,” Spota said. “He continued to attempt his U-turn without stopping.”

The grand jury declined to indict Romeo on criminally negligent homicide or vehicular homicide charges because they found that, even if he had been sober, he would have been unable to see the limousine in time to stop, according to the DA.

“A perfectly sober Steven Romeo could not avoid this crash. An intoxicated Steven Romeo could not avoid this crash. It was simply unavoidable from Romeo’s perspective,” Spota said.

Blood drawn an hour and 40 minutes after the crash showed Romeo’s blood alcohol level to be .066 percent, which is below the legal limit of .08 percent for driving while intoxicated in New York, but above the .06 percent limit for driving while impaired.

Investigators concluded Romeo’s BAC was at or above the limit at the time of the crash but was lower by the time his blood was drawn more than 90 minutes later, Spota said after the indictment was handed down in March.

Romeo, who was released on his own recognizance in March, will next appear in court Sept. 7 for pretrial hearings on motions challenging the admissibility at trial of evidence obtained by police in drawing his blood after the crash, as well as the admissibility of statements he allegedly made to law enforcement officers.

Pino, who also pleaded not guilty, has filed a motion to dismiss the indictment and is next due back in court on July 12. He is free on $100,000 bond.

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The passengers in the limo, all young women between the ages of 23 and 25, were touring the North Fork vineyards on Saturday, July 18.

A traffic signal was installed at the intersection of the crash at Depot Lane and County Road 48 two months later, though Suffolk County officials said the installation had been planned before the accident and investigators  said there was no proof that the lack of a signal contributed to the cause of the crash. U-turns are not prohibited.

Nearby resident Bill Shipman, who has complained about dangers posed by limousines and party buses making U-turns there, renewed his complaints to the Town Board earlier this month. The vehicles cannot negotiate the U-turn without making a three-point turn — stopping to back up before proceeding westbound, blocking the westbound lanes. It was during such a maneuver that Pino’s limousine was hit by Romeo’s pickup truck, according to prosecutors.

“It’s still going on,” Shipman told members of the Town Board last week, demanding a stepped up police presence at the intersection.

 

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.

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Denise Civiletti
Denise is a veteran local reporter and editor, an attorney and former Riverhead Town councilwoman. Her work has been recognized with numerous awards, including a “writer of the year” award from the N.Y. Press Association in 2015. She is a founder, owner and co-publisher of this website.