Dalakerman06
08-13-2009, 12:38 PM
Devastating Crash Rips Apart Family
(Aug. 12) - The surviving family members of the woman who caused a horrific wrong-way crash on a New York highway have been torn apart by revelations that she was driving drunk and stoned in a car packed with children, the New York Post reported Wednesday. Diane Schuler, 36, drove the wrong way on the Taconic Parkway for nearly 2 miles before her minivan slammed into an SUV on July 26. Schuler, her 2-year-old daughter, Erin, and three young nieces were killed, along with three men in the SUV. Authorities said toxicology tests showed Schuler had knocked back the equivalent of 10 glasses of vodka and had smoked a considerable quantity of marijuana before getting behind the wheel. Warren Hance, who lost three daughters in the crash, is furious that Schuler was driving drunk and high, but is also enraged that her husband is denying she had a problem, the Post said, citing a lawyer familiar with the situation. Daniel Schuler has insisted that his wife was not a drinker. His lawyer, Dominic Barbara, suggested Diane Schuler may have suffered a stroke or other medical problem. The Post said Hance's branch of the family wanted nothing to do with Daniel Schuler and had instead forged bonds with relatives of crash victims Michael and Guy Bastardi. "[The Hance family] told me they would prefer not to be in touch with or connected to the Schuler family, particularly their lawyer," Irving Anolik, the Bastardi family's lawyer, told the Post. Anolik said the Hance and Bastardi families plan to "mourn together and exchange feelings."
(Aug. 12) - The surviving family members of the woman who caused a horrific wrong-way crash on a New York highway have been torn apart by revelations that she was driving drunk and stoned in a car packed with children, the New York Post reported Wednesday. Diane Schuler, 36, drove the wrong way on the Taconic Parkway for nearly 2 miles before her minivan slammed into an SUV on July 26. Schuler, her 2-year-old daughter, Erin, and three young nieces were killed, along with three men in the SUV. Authorities said toxicology tests showed Schuler had knocked back the equivalent of 10 glasses of vodka and had smoked a considerable quantity of marijuana before getting behind the wheel. Warren Hance, who lost three daughters in the crash, is furious that Schuler was driving drunk and high, but is also enraged that her husband is denying she had a problem, the Post said, citing a lawyer familiar with the situation. Daniel Schuler has insisted that his wife was not a drinker. His lawyer, Dominic Barbara, suggested Diane Schuler may have suffered a stroke or other medical problem. The Post said Hance's branch of the family wanted nothing to do with Daniel Schuler and had instead forged bonds with relatives of crash victims Michael and Guy Bastardi. "[The Hance family] told me they would prefer not to be in touch with or connected to the Schuler family, particularly their lawyer," Irving Anolik, the Bastardi family's lawyer, told the Post. Anolik said the Hance and Bastardi families plan to "mourn together and exchange feelings."