Driver charged with drunk driving in fatal Long Island nail salon crash, police say

DEER PARK, NY — An SUV driver was drunk and driving too fast when he crashed into a nail salonthat left an off-duty NYPD officer and three other people dead on Long Island, New York, police said Saturday.

Suffolk County police arrested Steven Schwally of Dix Hills and charged him with drunken driving following the crash in Deer Park. Nearly a dozen other people were hospitalized with injuries from the crash.

Witnesses saw the SUV swerve before the accident

A man and three women were pronounced dead at the Hawaii Nail and Spa on Grand Boulevard, where Schwally is believed to have driven his 2020 Chevy Traverse shortly before 5 p.m. Friday.

Before the accident, witnesses said the SUV skidded as the driver exited the Kohl’s parking lot across the street.

“It looks like a car drove through the entire building,” said Deer Park Deputy Fire Chief Dominic Albanese at the scene.

Schwally, 64, was taken to hospital with minor injuries. He will be charged at a later date, police said.

Among the four dead is an off-duty NYPD officer

One of the four victims killed at the scene was an off-duty NYPD officer, police sources confirmed. Nine other people were taken to nearby hospitals, one of them by helicopter.

“It’s terrible. It’s going to be hard on the community, hard on the volunteer fire department, but we’ll get through it,” Albanese said.

“I don’t even know who’s gone and who’s not. I just keep imagining their faces,” says Jasmin Darbouze, a regular customer at Hawaii Nail and Spa.

Authorities said several people were trapped in the salon and needed to be rescued.