This story was sent to you by: Fergie (Paul Ferguson) -------------------- 3 men die in weekend crashes -------------------- Separate accidents kill motorcyclist going to celebrate birthday, one riding with friend, and 'sweet, loving' son BY CHRISTINE ARMARIO STAFF WRITER September 5, 2005 Donald Schober would have been celebrating his 24th birthday yesterday, but he was being mourned by friends and family instead. The Medford man was one of three men to die in motorcycle or car accidents in Nassau and Suffolk during the Labor Day weekend. Schober was just a few minutes from home after visiting friends Friday evening when his 2001 Suzuki motorcycle, traveling westbound on Barton Avenue, collided with a 1990 Honda sedan trying to turn left onto Tremont Avenue. He was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 6 p.m. Police said the speed of Schober's motorcycle may have been a factor in the accident and that the driver of the Honda, Michael Laskaris, of Selden, said he did not see Schober's bike as he turned. Schober, a broker at ABG Services Inc. in Holbrook, was going to spend his birthday celebrating with a night out with friends, who instead gathered yesterday at his wake. His godmother, Maria Ball, said some of them had painted the words "We ride together, we die together" on the back windows of their cars and trucks. "He's going to be fully surrounded by the biggest birthday he ever had," Ball said tearfully over the phone. She said Schober had been riding motorcycles since he was 17 and had just bought the Suzuki bike two months ago after a year of saving. A second motorcyclist was killed yesterday in Wantagh. Michael Benedetto, 37, of Lindenhurst, was riding a motorcycle with a friend on Sunrise Highway when he lost control of his vehicle near Wantagh Avenue and hit a parked car by the Lighthouse Diner at 2:40 a.m., police said. "I kept on riding about half a mile, realized he wasn't behind me, made a U-turn, and saw a bunch of people around a parked vehicle," said Peter Scifo, the friend. "I thought he was unconscious with a broken arm." Benedetto was transported to Nassau University Medical Center, where he died at 3:32 a.m., police said. Scifo said Benedetto was a former Marine who had served in Desert Storm and was employed as a mechanic at a Copiague fence company. He is survived by three sisters, a brother and his mother, Scifo said. "He was just a great guy," Scifo said. "Loved his family, loved his friends, always smiling and happy." Earlier yesterday, Adam Fraier, a 27-year-old Cedarhurst man, was killed when his 2002 Nissan hit a telephone pole on Edwards Avenue in Calverton and flipped over on its roof, police said. Fraier was transported to Central Suffolk Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:12 a.m. His father, Mark Fraier, said his son was returning from the house of a work colleague when he lost control of the car. His son was a University of Albany graduate who worked as a mortgage broker for Premium Capital Funding in Jericho, he said. "Sweet, loving," he said, describing his son. "He was a loving son and grandson that will be sorely missed." Copyright (c) 2005, Newsday, Inc. -------------------- This article originally appeared at: http://www.newsday.com/mynews/ny-lifata054412687sep05,0,6885648.story Visit Newsday online at http://www.newsday.com