Inset (left): News footage of Thomas Lobianco in court (WCBS). Inset (right): Joel Sicon-Porix (Facebook). Background: News footage of the crash that killed Joel Sicon-Porix (WCBS).
A New York man faces upgraded charges after prosecutors said he was on drugs when he crashed into three construction workers.
Thomas Lobianco, 26, was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter, vehicular assault, and 16 other charges in connection with a car crash that took the life of a construction worker and injured two of the victim’s colleagues. Suffolk County prosecutors said Lobianco was high on drugs on the morning of Aug. 10 when he ran a red light in his Toyota Camry and drove “at a high rate of speed” into 38-year-old Joel Sicon-Porix, who died from his injuries at the hospital, and two of his colleagues while they were doing construction on a suburban road in Nesconset, New York.
The two other workers were seriously injured and required emergency surgery. All three men were wearing reflective vests in an area surrounded by construction signs. But Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told local CBS affiliate WCBS that the workers “never stood a chance.”
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According to prosecutors, Lobianco was leaving his overnight shift at 7-Eleven when he got into his car to go home. Police who responded to the crash said Lobianco “exhibited signs of impairment” when they found him and allegedly found cannabis, clonazepam, and drug paraphernalia in his backpack. Detectives viewed surveillance video taken inside the 7-Eleven during Lobianco’s shift, which captured Lobianco “swaying, stumbling, nearly falling multiple times and nodding in and out of consciousness throughout the course of that shift.”
A customer who was at the 7-Eleven while Lobianco was working that night told WCBS off-camera that the suspect was “so high, he didn’t even know how he was working the cash register.”
Lobianco’s attorney, Robert Macedonio, told WCBS and other local media outlets that further toxicology reports were needed to determine his client’s level of impairment at the time of the crash.
According to prosecutors, Lobianco’s drive home before 7 a.m. on Aug. 10 was erratic. He allegedly stopped at a green light at an intersection then continued driving after the driver behind him honked their horn. As he continued down the road, he drifted off to the side.
Lobianco then allegedly “drove through a steady red light at a high rate of speed” before drifting across a double yellow line onto the sidewalk on the other side of the road where Sicon-Porix, a father of three children, and his colleagues were seen on surveillance video working. Lobianco then allegedly ran over all of them “without braking.”
Lobianco appeared in court on Wednesday, where he pleaded not guilty to 19 charges. He is being held on $7.5 million cash bail, $15 million bond, or $30 million partially secured bond. His next court date is scheduled for Oct. 14.
The post 7-Eleven worker who ended his overnight shift by plowing his Toyota Camry into 3 construction workers ‘without braking,’ killing 1, gets charges upgraded: Prosecutors first appeared on Law & Crime.
