Deer Park woman killed, three injured in Pa. crash

A planned trip to Hershey Park ended in tragedy for a group of Long Islanders when the driver fell asleep on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and his hatchback slammed into a tree, killing a Deer Park woman and seriously injuring the driver and two other passengers, police said.

Kristin M. Green, 20, riding in the front passenger seat, was pronounced dead Tuesday at Reading Hospital in Berks County, Pennsylvania State Police said.

The driver and the two backseat passengers remained hospitalized last night, officials said.

All four worked at the Apple store in Huntington Station at the Walt Whitman Mall, family members said. They left Long Island early Tuesday and stopped in Philadelphia, before heading for the theme park, where relatives said they had planned to stay through Thursday,

The driver, Robert Felberbaum, 20, of Commack, was headed west on Interstate 76 around 4 p.m. in Caernarvon Township when he fell asleep and the car failed to negotiate a curve, according to a Pennsylvania State Police report. The 2010 Volkswagen GTI went off the roadway and into a tree, trapping the occupants.

"The vehicle sustained severe crushing disabling damage and the roof had to be removed to assist the occupants," according to the report.

Felberbaum and two passengers - Tracy Cowit, 21, of Syosset, and Richard DiLorenzo, 21, of Levittown - sustained major injuries, police said.

Wednesday night Felberbaum was in serious condition at Reading Hospital; DiLorenzo was in fair condition and Cowit was in good condition, a spokeswoman said.

Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Manuel DeLeon said that Green, Felberbaum and DiLorenzo were all wearing seat belts; investigators could not verify if Cowit was also wearing one at the time.

Cpl. Dan Moy said Felberbaum will be charged with careless driving and failing to stay in the traffic lane.

Felberbaum's grandmother, June Schaum, said Wednesday that she was not aware of any charges, adding police said he did nothing wrong.

"He's still out of it," Schaum said.

Wednesday Green's family and friends remembered her as caring, vivacious and devoted to her job at Apple.

"She was nice to everybody," said close friend Suzie Downing, 22, of Deer Park. "No matter how long we went without seeing each other, our relationship never changed."