4 Killed, Bride Seriously Injured When Drunk Driver Hits Limo in Cutchogue: Prosecutors

Police have named the four women killed in a horrific crash between a limousine and a pickup truck operated by an alleged drunk driver on Long Island’s North Fork Saturday afternoon.

The women were identified as Lauren Baruch, 24, of Smithtown; Brittany Schulman, 23, of Smithtown; Amy Grabina, 23, of Commack; and Stephanie Belli, 23, of Kings Park.

Three of the women were pronounced dead at the scene and another died at a hospital following the crash, which occurred around 5:10 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of Route 48 and Depot Lane in Cutchogue.

Four other women in the limo were hospitalized. They were identified Sunday as Alicia Arundel, 23, of Setauket; Melissa Crai, 23, of Scarsdale; Joelle Dimonte, 25, of Elwood; and Olga Lipets, 24, of Brooklyn.

Two of the surviving women suffered serious injuries, according to News 12. The driver of the limo, Carlos Pino, 58, of Bethpage, was also hurt in the crash.

The driver of the pickup truck, 55-year-old Steve Romeo, of Southold, has been charged with DWI.

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The limo had just left Vineyard 48 at the time of the crash. Vehicles leaving the winery must make a U-turn at Depot Lane in order to head west on Route 48. That was apparently the path the limo took before the pickup truck T-boned the limo as it attempted to make the U-turn.

“It was the most horrific thing I’ve ever seen,” a local resident told the Daily News of witnessing aftermath of the accident.

Assistant Suffolk County District Attorney Elizabeth Miller said the limo was occupied by group of friends, including a bride, who were “celebrating an upcoming event.”

The bride survived the crash, but she was among the two surviving women who were seriously injured, CBS reported.

Miller, however, said during a press conference Sunday that she didn’t “believe it was a bridal party” in the limo, refuting earlier reports that the women who died in the crash were bridesmaids.

Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley told SoutholdLocal.com that the limo driver apparently cut off the pickup truck. ”It was a dangerous move,” Flatley said, according to the report. “This is what we’ve always been afraid of.”

Flatley told Newsday it was ”one of the worst accidents I’ve ever seen.”

There is a blinking caution light, but no traffic light at the intersection where the crash occurred. The busy intersection has been the scene of numerous accidents in recent years.

Romeo, the co-owner of Southold-based Romeo Dimon Marine Service, pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor DWI charge during a bedside arraignment at Eastern Long Island Hospital Sunday. He is being held on $500,000 cash bail or $1 million bond.

Miller said the investigation is continuing and prosecutors are “looking into upgrading the charges significantly.”

Photo: CBS 2 report screenshot