XPost: nyc.politics, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.clinton   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: donors@hillaryclinton.com   
      
   Steve Romeo, co-owner of Southold-based Romeo Dimon Marine   
   Services, has been identified as the driver of the pickup truck   
   involved in a deadly crash with a limousine in Cutchogue   
   Saturday evening.   
      
   The Suffolk Times named Romeo, 55, as the driver of the truck   
   that plowed into the black limo as it left a winery, killing   
   four of the women inside.   
      
   Newsday has not confirmed the report. Neither Romeo nor his   
   business partner Kris Dimon could be reached Sunday morning. The   
   marine services business was closed.   
      
   The driver of the truck, who police have not identified, was   
   charged with driving while intoxicated Saturday and awaited   
   arraignment Sunday morning in Southold Justice Court.   
      
   The North Fork intersection where four women in a limo were   
   killed Saturday evening has long been a worry to residents   
   because of the convergence of U-turning vineyard limousines and   
   oncoming traffic on the rural road.   
      
   The four women with a bachelorette party were killed as their   
   limo left Vineyard 48 in Cutchogue, police said.   
      
   The crash occurred about 5 p.m. at the intersection of Depot   
   Lane and Route 48, police said. Three women died at the scene   
   and one died at a hospital, Southold Police Chief Martin Flatley   
   said.   
      
   They were believed to be from the New York City area, police   
   said.   
      
   Three other women and the two drivers were injured.   
      
   None of the identities of the two vehicles' occupants were   
   released Saturday night.   
      
   Flatley said the limousine, carrying seven women and a driver,   
   was trying to make a U-turn to head west on Route 48 at the   
   crossroads, which has two yellow flashing caution lights going   
   east and west. There are red flashing lights heading north and   
   south on Depot Lane.   
      
   The limo's passenger side was smashed by the red pickup truck,   
   which was heading west on Route 48. It was not known if the   
   limousine cut in front of truck, Flatley said.   
      
   "He hit the brakes right before and he broadsided the limo right   
   on the passenger side," he said.   
      
   The pickup driver ran from the crash scene, but police arrested   
   him nearby and charged him with driving while intoxicated,   
   authorities said. Though police did not release his name, they   
   said he is a resident of the North Fork.   
      
   Residents say limos on vineyard tours make dangerous U-turns   
   near the intersection where Vineyard 48 empties out onto Route   
   48 at Depot Lane.   
      
   Bill Shipman, who lives directly across the street from Vineyard   
   48, said residents have complained about limos backing into   
   traffic on Route 48 to complete their turns.   
      
   He said the town has added flashing lights and changed the   
   traffic pattern to direct limos to turn left on Depot Lane   
   instead of making a U-turn on Route 48, but many drivers don't   
   follow the directions.   
      
   "This is the thing we've complained about since 2010 and it   
   still goes on every week," Shipman said. "They block the lanes   
   of traffic and back up to make their turns. It's a disaster.   
   I've said a limo is going to get T-boned here."   
      
   Shipman said he told Southold officials, "If you don't address   
   this, you'll have a fatality in a limo."   
      
   Another resident, Michael Eckhardt, was attending a family   
   gathering near the crash scene. He said several drivers have   
   been ticketed for making illegal turns. He advocated adding a   
   full-stop light at the intersection.   
      
   "There's not enough room to make a U-turn," Eckhardt said. "You   
   think you're all safe renting a limo and then -- boom."   
      
   A driver passing by the crash Saturday evening, Ted Webb, 76, of   
   Orient, said he called 911 as he jumped out of his car and ran   
   to the limo.   
      
   But then he looked into the back of the limo and saw two women   
   wearing black dresses.   
      
   "They looked like they were in a state of shock. They weren't   
   screaming or shouting," he said. "They're sitting in the back   
   and they saw what happened directly in front of them."   
      
   Webb said he didn't see anyone in the middle seat of the limo,   
   "But I realize now, [that was] because the front end of the   
   pickup truck was embedded into the limo."   
      
   "They had to die instantly. There was no noise. No screaming no   
   shouting," Webb said.   
      
   Three women were declared dead inside the limousine. Two others   
   were flown by helicopters to Stony Brook University Hospital and   
   two were taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center, where one died and   
   the other was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.   
   The drivers, including the one arrested, were taken to Eastern   
   Long Island Hospital in Greenport.   
      
   Route 48, which is one of the main North Fork thoroughfares, was   
   closed both ways from Mattituck to Southold because of the crash.   
      
   "This is one of the worst accidents I've ever seen," Flatley   
   said.   
      
   Lynne Lulfs of Hampton Bays said she pulled up next to the crash   
   immediately after it happened. As she and her husband passed the   
   limo, she said she could see three women hanging out the left   
   side of the limo.   
      
   Several other drivers rushed to the limo passengers' aid before   
   police and firefighters arrived. Lulfs said she saw a man   
   sitting in the back of the pickup, shaken and drinking water.   
   Police said he ran away before they arrived.   
      
   "We're real sick about it," Lulfs said.   
      
   "It's just a tragedy. They were celebrating a wonderful   
   milestone, then to have this tragedy in their lives," Lulfs   
   said. "To witness such a tragedy . . . one minute of celebration   
   and death the next, is so hard to comprehend."   
      
   This was the second multi-fatal crash on Long Island this past   
   week. Early last Sunday, a Toyota driven by Ancio Ostane, 37, of   
   St. Albans, Queens, was rear-ended by an alleged drunken driver   
   on the Southern State Parkway. Ostane and his children, Andy, 8,   
   and Sephora, 4 were killed.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)