Driver charged with drunk driving after accident at New York nail salon that left 4 people dead and 9 injured

A Long Island man was arrested for drunken driving after authorities say he drove his SUV into a nail salon, killing four people and injuring nine others, police said Saturday.

Suffolk County Police said Steven Schwally, of Dix Hills, was driving at a high rate of speed through the parking lot when he crashed his SUV through the front window of Hawaii Nail & Spa in Deer Park around 4:30 p.m. Friday.

The salon was open and operating at the time of the accident, police said. Firefighters who responded to the crash said Schwally was semi-conscious when his vehicle came to a near stop at the back of the store, which is located in a strip mall.

Spokesmen for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and police said they did not have contact information for his attorney.

Three women and one man were pronounced dead at the scene. Eight women and one man were taken to hospitals, at least two of them with serious injuries, police said. One of the injured victims was a 12-year-old girl. The other victims were all adults, police said.

Schwally was taken to a hospital for treatment of his non-life-threatening injuries.

Suffolk County police identified the dead victims as Jiancai Chen, 37; Yan Xu, 41; Meizi Zhang, 50 – all of Queens – and Emilia Rennhack, 30, of Deer Park.

The New York Police Department said Rennhack was stationed at a precinct in Queens and had been on the force since 2018.

“Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the loss of Officer Emilia Rennhack, whose life was cut short far too soon,” Police Commissioner Edward Caban wrote on the social platform X.

“We are heartbroken,” the New York Police Benevolent Association wrote on X. “Please join us in praying for her family, friends and colleagues. Funeral arrangements to follow.”

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office said Schwally remained hospitalized as of late Saturday and would be arraigned at a later date.