Steven Romeo Pleads Guilty To Driving While Impaired After Deadly Limo Crash, Faces Fine: DA

CUTCHOGUE, NY — One year and 10 months after a devastating fatal limo crash took the lives of four young women in Cutchogue, Steven Romeo, driver of the pickup truck, pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired by alcohol, a traffic infraction, in Central Islip on Wednesday.

Steven Romeo, 56, appeared before Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho; according to Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota, Romeo had a BAC of .06 at the time of the crash, Spota said. Romeo will pay a $500 fine, plus $385 in court fees, and have his license suspended for 90 days, Spota said.

The limo driver, Carlos Pino, was charged with criminally negligent homicide, failure to yield the right of way and other charges in an indictment last year but Justice Camacho dismissed the indictment; the DA's office is appealing that decision.

“The person at fault in this crash was the driver of the limousine, Carlos Pino, an experienced professional limousine driver carrying eight passengers who turned blindly into a roadway when his view was completely blocked by another car," Spota said Wednesday. "Pino was driving a vehicle he knew or should have known could never make a safe U-turn under the circumstances. Justice Camacho’s decision to dismiss the indictment appears to ignore this critical and distinguishing fact."

He added: "Simply because others made the turn without harm did not make doing so safe or lawful when done blindly as Pino did. The grand jury with the benefit of hearing the testimony of numerous witnesses, including from crash reconstruction experts, reached their decision. The grand jury found that Pino’s heedlessly executed U-turn was serious enough to result in criminal charges, notably criminally negligent homicide and failure to yield the right of way. We have appealed the court’s dismissal of the indictment of Mr. Pino.”

At a press conference in December outlining a grand jury report on the crash, Spota said collision reconstruction by the New York State Police established Romeo, even if sober, could not have avoided the crash.

“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. By law there must be a link between Romeo’s intoxication and the cause of the crash, “ Spota said.

After Wednesday's court appearance, Romeo's attorney, Stephen O'Brien of Nesconset, said in court, his client entered a guilty plea to the traffic infraction.

“He is a wonderful man," O'Brien said. "He has tremendous community support."

While the victim's families appeared in court, some "yelling out," O'Brien said Romeo also had a large group of family and friends there.

"We've said from day one of this case that Steve Romeo was not the cause of his horrible accident and not guilty of DWI," O'Brien said. "Today's plea to a traffic infraction confirms what we've been saying all along."

Romeo, he said, has, from the first, "offered his condolences to all the families. He's expressed sorrow for the pain and suffering they have experienced and are experiencing. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families."

Of Romeo, a marine mechanic O'Brien said he'd met him 20 months ago. "Some people come in as clients, He has walked away my friend. I wish him the best of luck. It's a sad case."

In December, Spota held a press conference to unveil the 156-page New York State Supreme Court Suffolk County Special Grand Jury report, with recommendations for reforms to the limousine industry.

"You see these eight beautiful babies? The way I'm leaving them with you, I want them back." Those were the heartbreaking words Felicia Baruch uttered to limo driver Pino before the horrific limo crash in July, 2015 in Cutchogue that took the life of her daughter Lauren and three other young women, and left four others gravely injured.

Findings indicated that the grand jury would like to see U-turns by modified or stretch limos banned in Suffolk County and New York State, enhanced driver certification requirements, and a new traffic light at County Road 48 with a green turning arrow with a red phase for both eastbound and westbound traffic.

The "lack of regulations" regarding stretch limos was cited, as was the "inadequate traffic light" at County Road 48 and Depot Lane, Spota said.

Spota said something needs to be done so that an similar accident will never happen again. "There's nothing but a fine line between a stretch limousine and a hearse," he said.

Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley said in the months since the accident, with limos still making U turns and buses and limos carrying crowds out to local wineries, concerns still exist.

"The problem is not going away," Flatley said.

Special grand jury report

After a year-long, comprehensive investigation including the testimony of four dozen witnesses and the review of thousands of documents, the grand jury produced the report, detailing the circumstances that led to the fatalities, a release from Spota's office said.

The grand jury’s findings say "there is a complete lack of regulation of stretch limousine construction, and the existence — to this day — of an inadequate traffic light at the historically dangerous intersection of County Road 48 and Depot Lane in Cutchogue," the release said.

Photos of the limousine wreckage and a photo of a new stretch limousine’s "woefully inadequate 'anti-intrusion bar' installed to 'protect passengers'" were featured.

An intrusion bar aimed to protect side impacts to passengers "did absolutely no good" and offered no protection for the young women, Spota said. The rod was "woefully inadequate and unacceptable," the report determined, with the force of impact knocking it right off the side of the limo.

The DA said when a company aims to create a limo, it buys a vehicle such as a Lincoln town car, pulls it apart, and adds a middle section of up to 10 feet. But there are weight restrictions of 7,500 lbs., he said, so oftentimes features such as the front seat, the spare tire and the jack are left out so the weight will fall under guidelines.

"The more passengers you can fit in, the more the end buyer can charge to rent the limo. Money, that's what this is all about," Spota said. "There's constant battle to minimize or modify the vehicle' s weight."

In addition, he said, every vehicle is supposed to be crash tested. "No such test was ever performed on the limo these girls perished in," he said.

Both the limo builder and the purchaser said they believed it was the other's responsibility to ensure such testing was done.

In addition, Spota said, such large limos are simply incapable of making a U-turn on a road such as County Road 48. The limo should ideally be able to turn into the left lane but cannot even turn into the right since the vehicle is so large.

"Eight young women and their families thought they were being careful" in hiring a limo, Spota said. But instead, "They didn't know they were putting their trust in a vehicle that was untested, unregulated and potentially deadly."

Traffic light at Route 48

Spota also said the traffic light at Route 48, at the time, was merely flashing yellow lights. The Suffolk County Department of Public Works had decided to change the light in 2014 but no action was taken until two months after the fatal limo crash, Spota said. The report indicates that a new light with a green turning arrow is critical.

Despite the fact that the town board and residents had pleaded for a new light for years, until recently, the county said "traffic was insufficient to warrant a change," Spota said.

As it stands, he said, conditions are now more dangerous than they were before the new light, he said. So far, Spota said, the county has "declined" to install the green turning arrow, despite evidence that says it would be a "minor adjustment," he said.

The limousine, driven by Pino and owned by Ultimate Class Limousine, Inc., was transporting eight young women touring local wineries on July 18, 2015, Spota said; at approximately 5:11 p.m, the limo, while making a U-turn at the intersection of Route 48 and Depot Lane in Cutchogue, was broadsided by a pickup truck driven by Romeo.

Spota said in December the DA's office planned to appeal the decision of a judge to throw out the indictment and dismiss charges against Pino.

Brittney Schulman, 23, and Lauren Baruch, 24, both of Smithtown, Stephanie Belli, 23, of Kings Park, and Amy Grabina, 23, of Commack, all lost their lives.

Injured in the accident were Joelle M. Dimonte, 25, of Ellwood, Melissa Angela Crai, 23, of Scarsdale, Alicia Arundel, 24, of Setauket, and Olga Lipets, 24, of Brooklyn.

After the tragic accident, many implored Suffolk County to install a traffic signal at the intersection of County Road 48 and Depot Lane.

But, despite the fact that a traffic signal was later installed on Depot Lane — no green lefthand turning arrow was installed, igniting an outcry from residents.