Stony Brook student injured in fatal crash recovering

A Stony Brook University senior continued to recover in a Pennsylvania hospital Tuesday, officials said, three days after a horrific interstate crash took the lives of two of his classmates.

Stanislav Gomberg, 21, of Ossining, was injured in the crash at 12:33 a.m. Saturday on Interstate 80 near Mifflinville, Pa., southwest of Wilkes-Barre.

Driver Sean Finnegan, 21, of Lynbrook, and a front-seat passenger, Paul Richards, 18, of Santa Cruz, Calif., were killed when their car rear-ended a tractor-trailer. Both were wearing seat belts, Pennsylvania state police said.

Gomberg was in the backseat and not belted in, according to police. He was airlifted to the Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pa., where he was admitted in serious condition.

He was listed in fair condition Tuesday afternoon, hospital officials said. The exact nature of his injuries was not known.

Earlier attempts to reach the family of Gomberg, a psychology major, were unsuccessful.

The Stony Brook campus was plunged into mourning following the crash, in which the 1998 Nissan Altima driven by Finnegan plowed into the rear of a Freightliner tractor-trailer being driven by Ricky Ray Yates, 51, of Ojai, Calif., Pennsylvania state police said.

Both vehicles were headed west, police said, when the tractor-trailer slowed for another crash.

No charges have been filed, police said.

It was not clear where the three students were headed.

"The entire Stony Brook family was deeply saddened to learn of the untimely and tragic death of two of our students, Sean Finnegan and Paul Richards, who were involved in a fatal car accident over the weekend," university president Samuel L. Stanley Jr. wrote in a letter to students and faculty.

"Both Sean and Paul were well-known and well-regarded members of the Stony Brook community and their friends and classmates are devastated by the tragedy of their loss," Stanley wrote in the letter.

Finnegan, a senior psychology major who was set to graduate in May, was a member of the campus fraternity Alpha Phi Delta and was an enthusiastic member of the Catholic Campus Ministry, serving as a eucharistic minister and peer minister, friends said.

Richards was a first-year student and a member of the College of Global Studies. He also was a member of Alpha Phi Delta, campus officials said.

Richards' family could not be reached. Finnegan's parents declined requests for an interview.

"The loss of a student is always difficult, and we know it is particularly so for those directly invested in a student's academic success and personal development," Stanley wrote.

He said the Office of the Dean of Students was advising students, faculty and staff of resources available to support the campus community - such as counseling and psychological services available at the student health center.

Sister Margaret Ann Landry, chaplain of Catholic Campus Ministry, said grieving members of Stony Brook's sororities and fraternities were invited to attend Sunday's Stony Brook Mass. That Mass drew about 300 people, about twice as many as usual, she said.