Family, Friends Say Goodbye At Funeral For Victim Of Long Island Limo Crash

WOODBURY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Family and friends said goodbye Tuesday to one of the four women killed in a limousine crash on Long Island.

Some of the mourners could not hold back their tears and sadness as they walked into Gutterman's Memorial Chapel in Woodbury to say goodbye to 23-year-old Amy Grabina.

An accountant for Ernest and Young, 2010 graduate of Commack High School is being remembered for her honesty, loyalty and intelligence, CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported.

"This is totally devastating," one mourner told WCBS 880's Sophia Hall. "We're all very, very sad for the families and everyone who's involved in this tragedy."

"It's sad," said mourner Bob Bloeth, who said he saw Grabina last week at a family function and knows her boyfriend. "I think he was getting ready to ask her to marry. They were going about a year."

Grabina and seven friends were returning from a Suffolk County winery on Saturday when a pickup truck slammed into their limo along Route 48 in Cutchogue. Three other women were also killed.

Police said the truck's driver, 55-year-old Steve Romeo, was drunk.

"Fr beautiful, probably going to be very successful women, are no longer with us because the selfish decision that somebody decided to make," said friend Julian Bosch.

Romeo stayed at the accident scene for 15 minutes and spoke with police, but then walked away and climbed a fence, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said. A police officer brought him back to the scene, where field sobriety tests were administered.

Romeo pleaded not guilty to driving while intoxicated and bail was set at $500,000 cash or $1 million bond.

Officials say more charges are possible.

A witness to the deadly crash told police the limo driver turned directly into the path of the oncoming pickup truck. The limo driver, however, told police he never saw the truck coming when he tried to make the turn, Spota said. Investigators are awaiting the accident reconstruction report, which could tell police how fast the pickup was going.

Residents in the area have long complained about the dangerous intersection near the Cutchogue Winery, where buses and stretch limos make U-turns on busy Route 48. The turn isn't illegal, but police in Southold say they've been regularly writing tickets to limos in particular whose drivers don't yield before making U-turns.