Mourning, praying in Salisbury

Groups of W.T. Clarke High School students stood in silence by a tree on Bowling Green Drive on Jan. 5, the day after Clarke senior Francesco Posillico fatally crashed his car there. Flowers were strewn on the ground, and a Clarke lacrosse jersey hung from the tree, which had been transformed into a makeshift memorial for a fallen classmate.

People stopped by throughout the day to grieve, including classmate Samantha Penninipede and her mother, Ann. Penninipede, 17, had known Posillico since sixth grade at Clarke Middle School.

“He was a really nice guy, he was like everyone’s friend,” she said. “When you say, ‘See you tomorrow,’ you actually expect to see them tomorrow.”

Posillico, 17, was killed and two of his classmates were seriously injured when his 2006 BMW 330 slammed into a 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt at the intersection of Bowling Green Drive and Salisbury Road at about 5:40 p.m. on Jan. 4, according to police. Posillico’s car struck a utility pole and tree, and the Chevrolet spun around and came to rest on a corner, police said.

Posillico was transported to the Nassau University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. His front-seat passenger, Daniel Roche, 16, suffered spinal injuries and a skull fracture, police said, and was transported to Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, where he was put into a medically induced coma. Joseph Scaperrotta, 16, the rear passenger, was treated at the NUMC for spinal injuries.

By Tuesday afternoon, when the Herald went to press, the conditions of both Roche and Scaperrotta had improved. A Winthrop spokesman said that Roche was in fair and stable condition, and an NUMC spokeswoman said that Scaperrotta’s condition had been upgraded to stable.

The driver of the Chevrolet was a 24-year-old Levittown woman. Police did not identify her, but said that she did not suffer serious injuries in the crash and was released from the hospital.

‘A horrific scene’