Three teenagers were killed when the car they were in flew off the road and crashed into the woods on Long Island Wednesday night.
The 16-year-old driver, who didn’t have a license, and one of the passengers were ejected from the 2009 Infiniti G37 in the horrific crash in Holtsville, according to Suffolk County police.
Witnesses told police the car appeared to be speeding and overturned multiple times in the 9:45 p.m. wreck.
Holtsville resident Cem Gunes was behind the wheel of his mother’s car and only had a learner’s permit, police said.
Gunes and the two passengers, 17-year-old Taylor Beltramini of Moriches and 18-year-old Landon Kromhout Auditore of Mastic, were pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. No one else was in the car.
Police said it’s unlikely Gunes and Beltramini were wearing seatbelts because they were tossed from the car. It’s unclear if Auditore — who remained in the car after the crash — was wearing one.
The three teenagers’ lives were cut short in a car crash Wednesday night. News 12
The driver, Cem Gunes (right), was killed along with two passengers, police said. News 12“Witnesses tried to assist in every way possible,” Suffolk Police Department Inspector Darrell Simmons told reporters Thursday, according to Newsday. “It was a horrific accident and I’m sure they did everything they could.”
Because Gunes only had a learner’s permit, he was not supposed to be driving the car without an adult who was at least 21 years old and held a driver’s license, cops said.
Adriana Barrington, who was Gunes’ girlfriend, said she was “speechless” as she collected some of his belongings at the crash scene Thursday, including a notebook and a sneaker, according to News 12.
Items tossed from the car were picked up by loved ones Thursday, according to reports. News 12
A person at the scene of the fatal accident holds a sneaker that was found in the wreckage. News 12“I was supposed to spend all of Christmas break with him and now he’s just, he’s gone,” she told the station.
The trio all went to high schools in the area, with Beltramini and Auditore supposed to graduate in January and June, respectively, school officials told Newsday.
The single-car crash occurred in Suffolk County around 9:45 p.m. News 12Police are still trying to determine exactly how fast they were going and where they were coming from and going, as well as what other factors might’ve led to the crash.
“It’s terrible. We’re all parents; we have young kids that drive,” Simmons reportedly said. “It’s an absolute tragedy, especially around Christmas.”
