6 Years After Fatal Limo Crash, Families Honor Lost In Smithtown

SMITHTOWN, NY — Sunday will mark six years since a 2015 limo crash in Cutchogue that took the lives of four young women and left four others seriously injured.

On Saturday, the families of the young women gathered at the entrance to Smithtown High School West, known as LABS Lane. In 2018, the lane was dedicated in tribute to Lauren Baruch, 24, Stephanie Belli, 23, Brittney Schulman, 23, and Amy Grabina, 23, who died in the horrific crash in July 2015. "LABS" stands for the first initial of each of their names.

Three of the women died at the crash site and another died at a hospital.

The families were presented with certificates, signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and joined by New York State Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio, New York State Senator James Gaughran, Smithtown Town Supervisor Ed Wehrheim, Nicole Garguilo, assistant to Wehrheim, and a representative of Cuomo's office to reflect on the day that changed all of their lives forever.

In addition, they announced that a new, permanent memorial has been approved for the spot on Depot Lane and County Road 48 in Cutchogue where the crash took place. An artist is working on the sculpture, said Nancy DiMonte, whose daughter Joelle was seriously injured in the crash, as were Alicia Arundel, Melissa Crai, and Olga Lipets.

An unveiling of the sculpture will follow in the coming months, DiMonte said.

For DiMonte and all the families who have seen such unthinkable loss, working to create legislation that will prevent future tragedy has been their focus in the years since 2015.

"Six years, four fallen angels, four injured souls, eight distressed families — no justice," DiMonte said.

Giglio reflected: "Anniversaries are not easy when it's a remembrance of young lives that were taken too soon. God bless their souls and their families. I hope this is a day filled with great memories that will carry you through today and every day, for years to come."

The permanent memorial will stand at the spot where a tribute set up to honor the young women was dismantled without explanation, for the second time, in April.

All that remained by the pole on Route 48 and Depot Lane in April were a few purple ribbons, a bracelet dedicated to the four women, and a plastic angel on the ground. The pole had been redecorated with a temporary memorial, including photographs, flowers, and painted rocks, in November after the original tribute at the location disappeared in October.

No officials were able to provide an answer of how the memorial was removed.

"The families find this act malicious and a form of bullying," said DiMonte, at the time.

Paul Shulman, whose daughter Brittney died, spoke out about the missing memorial: "The families of the Cutchogue limo crash are appalled at the insensitive and deliberate attempt to send a message to us," he said. "We are all very upset and angry."

The four were killed when their limo was T-boned by a red pickup truck driven by Steven Romeo of Southold at the intersection of County Road 48 and Depot Lane in Cutchogue on July 18, 2015.

DiMonte said the families were saddened that no green turning arrow or "no U-turn" signs have yet been put up at the site.

The driver of the limo, Carlos Pino, 58, of Bethpage, was also hurt in the crash. Romeo pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired by alcohol, a traffic infraction, in 2017. The limo driver, Pino, was charged with criminally negligent homicide, failure to yield the right of way, and other charges, but Justice Fernando Camacho dismissed the indictment.

For years, the families of the women have advocated and supported legislation advancing limousine safety reforms.

In July, 2020, Bob Sullivan, the Cutchogue-based attorney for the four young women, unveiled ambulance records that he said indicated there was a new witness at the scene of the crash.