Driver faces upgraded charges in fatal Ronkonkoma crash
David Heise, 28, of Mooney Pond Road was driving a Dodge pickup truck on Veterans Memorial Highway in Ronkonkoma when he struck a BMW driven by Eugene Franjola, 17, of Oakdale, police said. Franjola and his friend Stephen Massina, 16, of Sayville, died in the crash. (April 11, 2010) Credit: SCPD
Five months after their sons were killed in a late-night auto crash in Ronkonkoma, the parents of Connetquot High School students Stephen Massina and Eugene Franjola expressed relief Monday when a Selden man was arraigned on upgraded charges related to causing the fatal collision.
But they also said they were disappointed that David Heise, 28, had not been tested for alcohol or drug use following the April 10 crash at Veterans Memorial Highway and Ocean Avenue. Police have said there was no indication he may have been drunk or high during the crash.
"Maybe he was innocent that night, but we'll never know," Eugene's mother, Barbara Franjola, of Oakdale, said outside court. "As mothers, it's hard because we lost our sons."
"It's tough," said Stephen's mother, Margaret Massina, of Sayville. "It's a tough case."
Eugene Franjola, 17, and Stephen Massina, 16, died of injuries caused, prosecutors said, when Heise's speeding and red-light running ended with his pickup crashing into the BMW driven by Franjola.
Heise, who had been charged with driving without a license, pleaded not guilty Monday in Suffolk County Court in Riverside to two counts of criminally negligent homicide, part of an 11-count indictment.
In addition to charges stemming from the fatal crash, Heise pleaded not guilty Monday to six counts in connection with two unrelated drug cases.
Prosecutors said Heise sold drugs to an undercover police officer on July 20 and possessed heroin on Aug. 10 when he was a passenger in a car stopped by Suffolk drug squad officers.
He faces a maximum of 9 years in prison on the drug charges and 4 years for criminally negligent homicide.
His license had been revoked for speeding convictions, prosecutors said. He also had been convicted of misdemeanor drug charges, according to records.
District Attorney Thomas Spota said Monday the charges were upgraded after reconstruction of the crash. Heise's attorney, Eric Besso of Sayville, questioned prosecutors' accounts of the crash. He and Heise declined to comment outside court. Heise was held on $300,000 bond or $200,000 cash bail.
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