Speed demon who triggered fatal LIE wreck mourned

A LONG ISLAND driver blamed for the 100 mph crash that killed him, his son and four others was remembered Friday with love, tears — and no mention of his role in the wreck.

Carmelo Pinales, 26, died while hurtling along the Long Island Expressway last weekend before his car became airborne and plowed into oncoming traffic.

He died along with his sister Patricia, his 10-year-old son Christopher and three people in two cars struck by his careening Subaru. The three family members were mourned at a single funeral Mass packed with 250 mourners.

“This is a huge family, and Carmelo and Patricia and the little one brought us joy,” said Frederico Pinales, uncle of the two older victims. “We lost the body, but the spirit is still with us.”

About 40 relatives joined in the funeral procession at St. Martha’s Church in Uniondale, L.I., with 18 pallbearers bearing the caskets with the three bodies inside for a Mass.

Unable to join the mourners was Patricia’s 3-year-old daughter Analia, who remained hospitalized after surviving the three-car wreck.

The Pinales family declined to address the accident at the service, where Msgr. Robert Brennan delivered a eulogy based on letters written by the surviving relatives.

“There are many things in this life that weigh us down,” said Brennan. “Tears get in the way of joy. But in the end, there’s something stronger, and that something stronger gets us through the hard times.”

The Mass was done predominantly in Spanish for the family that emigrated from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Many have since settled on Long Island, and they are now trying to come to grips with the tragedy.

“We’re not supposed to cry, we’re supposed to celebrate,” said Pinales’ uncle. “We only cry because they were taken away . . . . Everybody misses them, and misses how happy they were, and the happiness they brought to us.”

Sobbing family members followed the three caskets to waiting