Man accused in fatal DWI pleads not guilty

The Brentwood man accused of sideswiping a car on the Wantagh State Parkway while drunk and killing two construction workers on their way to work plead not guilty at his arraignment Sunday.

Oscar E. Ramirez-Lopez, 29, entered his plea through a court interpreter and told the judge he is married and is a carpenter who earns about $700 a week. He was represented by a public defender.

Ramirez-Lopez is charged with first-degree vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and driving without a license.

About 4:52 a.m. Saturday, police said Ramirez-Lopez was driving northbound on the parkway a quarter-mile south of Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow when his minivan veered into the right lane, striking a Kia Sephia sedan and forcing it off the road and into a tree.

Killed in the sedan were Ilario Scuteri, 49, of West Islip, and Daniel Gambardella, 46, of North Babylon. Scuteri and Gambardella died at the scene, authorities said.

Police said they found no record that Ramirez-Lopez ever had a driver's license. State police said he is an undocumented immigrant who has been in the United States five years.

After hitting the sedan, the minivan crashed into the parkway's center divider twice before stopping in the middle of the highway, police said.

Police said Ramirez-Lopez had been "out drinking" before the crash and that there were "indications" he was intoxicated when officers gave him field-sobriety tests. Ramirez-Lopez was taken to Nassau University Medical Center and treated for minor injuries. He was held at the Nassau County jail on $400,000 bond. He is due back in court in Mineola on May 4.