A Lake Ronkonkoma man was indicted for allegedly driving while impaired by drugs and crashing into three construction workers on Townline Road in Nesconset. One worker was killed and two others were seriously injured.
On August 10, at approximately 6:43 a.m., Thomas Lobianco was driving a 1999 Toyota Camry eastbound on Townline Road in Nesconset. He allegedly stopped at the intersection of Blydenburgh Road at a green light and proceeded only after a driver behind him honked. Lobianco then continued east on Townline Road while allegedly drifting across the roadway.
As he approached the intersection of Terry Road, Lobianco allegedly drove through a steady red light at a high rate of speed, continued into the turning lane, crossed over the double yellow line into the westbound lane and drove onto the sidewalk on the opposite side of the roadway without braking.
Surveillance video from the location captured Lobianco’s vehicle crashing into 38-year-old Joel Sican Porix and two other construction workers who were standing on the sidewalk and wearing reflective safety vests. Sican Porix was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from the injuries sustained in the crash. The two other workers sustained serious leg injuries, requiring emergency surgeries.
Following the impact, the defendant allegedly continued along the sidewalk — striking a traffic device, a utility pole and a fence — before coming to a stop against a tree.
Responding police officers observed that Lobianco exhibited signs of impairment and placed him under arrest. A switchblade knife was allegedly recovered from the defendant’s vehicle. Cannabis, clonazepam and drug paraphernalia were allegedly recovered from the defendant’s backpack.
Detectives from the Suffolk County Police Department’s Major Case Unit located surveillance video from a local 7-Eleven where Lobianco had been working an overnight shift shortly before the crash. The video allegedly captured Lobianco swaying, stumbling, nearly falling multiple times and nodding in and out of consciousness throughout the course of that shift.
On September 9, Lobianco, 26, was arraigned on the indictment before Acting Supreme Court Justice Bryan Browns on the following charges:
- Aggravated Vehicular Homicide, a Class B felony
- Manslaughter in the Second Degree, a Class C felony
- Aggravated Vehicular Assault, a Class C felony
- Vehicular Manslaughter in the Second Degree, a Class D felony
- Vehicular Assault in the First Degree, a Class D felony
- two counts of Assault in the Second Degree, Class D violent felonies
- two counts of Vehicular Assault in the Second Degree, Class E felonies
- two counts of Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs, unclassified misdemeanors
- Driving While Ability Impaired by a Combination of Drugs, an unclassified misdemeanor
- Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree, a Class A misdemeanor
- Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree, a Class A misdemeanor
- Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree, a Class A misdemeanor
- Reckless Driving, an unclassified misdemeanor
- Failure to Maintain Lane, a traffic infraction
- Failing to Stop at a Traffic Control Device, a traffic infraction
- Disobeying a Traffic Control Device, a traffic infraction
“Every morning, construction crews step out onto Suffolk County roadways to perform work that every one of us relies on, often just feet away from fast-moving traffic,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney. “They have every right to expect that they will make it home safely at the end of their shift. This defendant chose to get behind the wheel while impaired by drugs, and that choice caused devastating consequences. My condolences to the Porix family, his co-workers and the families of the other injured workers. My office will pursue this case with the gravity it deserves.”
Browns ordered Lobianco held on $7.5 million cash, $15 million bond or $30 million partially secured bond and suspended his license during the pendency of the case.
Lobianco is due back in court on October 14 and faces eight-and-one-third to twenty-five years in prison if convicted of the top count.