Three Long Island teens killed after car crashes, overturns in woods

Three teenagers were killed after 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.

“Witnesses tried to assist in every way possible,” Suffolk Police Department Insp. 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.

 “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.

Police are still trying to determine exactly how fast they were going and where they were going and coming from, 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.”