The woman charged with driving while intoxicated in the fatal motor vehicle accident on Main Road Tuesday night returned to Riverhead Justice Court Thursday afternoon accompanied by legal counsel as directed yesterday by Judge Allen Smith.
Diane O’Neill, 65, of Farmingville, appeared today 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 yesterday 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, a Southold High School math teacher for 21 years, 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. Tuesday.
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 come in, 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.
