DA: Teen Indicted in Farmingdale Street Racing Crash That Killed 5 Friends

A Farmingdale teenager has been indicted on manslaughter and assault charges in connection with a 2014 crash that killed five of his teenage friends and seriously injured two adults, authorities said Thursday.

After a grand jury investigation, Cory Gloe, 18, was indicted on five counts of second-degree manslaughter, five counts of second-degree reckless endangerment, five counts of criminally negligent homicide, two counts of second-degree assault, two counts of third-degree assault, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, second-degree reckless endangerment and reckless driving.

“Today’s indictment is the result of an event that brought heartbreak to these families, the innocent victims who were injured, and the Farmingdale community since last May,” Nassau’s Acting District Attorney Madeline Singas said in a statement.

Gloe, who pleaded not guilty, faces a maximum of five to 15 years in prison if convicted of the top charge, the DA’s office said.

Nassau County Court Judge Terence Murphy suspended Gloe’s license and set bail at $50,000 cash or bond, according to the DA’s office.

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Prosecutors say that after midnight on May 10, 2014, Gloe, who was 17 at the time and had a full driver’s license, was driving a 2008 Toyota Scion with four passengers in the car. He was leaving the vicinity of the Airport Plaza Mall parking lot on Route 110 in Farmingdale after “participating in organized street races on the streets behind the mall,” the DA’s office said in a news release.

While stopped at a red light at the Conklin Street and Route 110 intersection, Gloe was in the lane next to his friend, 17-year-old Tristan Reichle, who was driving a 2001 Nissan Sentra with four passengers, the DA’s office said.

Gloe challenged Reichle to a race several times, prosecutors say. When the traffic signal turned green, the two cars crossed Route 110 and were racing each other heading west on Conklin Street when Reichle lost control, crossed the double yellow lines into oncoming traffic and crashed into a 2011 GMC Terrain occupied by two adults.

Reichle and his passengers –18-year-old Jesse Romero, 14-year-old Carly Lonnborg, 15-year-old Noah Francis and 17-year-old Cody Talanian – were killed as a result of the crash. The two adults in the GMC Terrain sustained serious injuries and have since each undergone multiple surgeries and are still recovering, the DA’s office said.

“Unfortunately nothing will alleviate the pain or bring back the lives lost in this senseless crash,” Singas said. “We owe it to our kids and everyone on our roads to remember that speed and racing kill. As parents, grandparents and teachers we cannot emphasize enough to our kids that when you are old enough to drive a car, you are also old enough to be held responsible for your decisions behind the wheel.”

Stephen LaMagna, Gloe’s attorney, said his client, who lost five of his friends, “was not involved in any collision whatsoever,” Newsday reported. “To this day, no one knows how or why the car swerved into traffic.”

Gloe is due back in court on Feb. 11.

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