By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-12 21:29:24 | Updated at 2026-08-12 23:46:16
2 hours ago
A drunk driver who plowed through a Long Island nail salon at 78 mph, killing an off-duty NYPD cop and three others people was sentenced to 25-years-to-life in prison on Wednesday.
Steven Schwally, 66, was found guilty last month of four counts of second-degree murder and a slew of other charges after the deadly carnage at Hawaii Nail & Spa salon in Deer Park in June 2024.
Schwally downed 18 beers and Long Island iced teas before recklessly jumping behind the wheel of his Chevrolet Traverse eventually barreling into the salon in a crash that killed off-duty NYPD officer Emilia Rennhack, 30, who was getting a manicure for a wedding, as well as salon owner Jian Chai Chen, 37, and employees Yan Xu, 41, and Mei Zi Zhang, 50.
He injured nine others, including a 12-year-old girl, who required surgery.
“Steven Schwally drank until his blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit. He chose to get behind the wheel of an SUV, run four stop signs and speed through a red light, crashing his two-ton vehicle into a room full of people,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.
“Four families are now living with the deadly consequences, including the family of an off-duty New York City police officer,” Tierney added.
“We have now achieved justice on behalf of these families and survivors who continue to deal with the fallout from the defendant’s decisions.”
On June 28, 2024, Schwally left his room at the Commack Motor Inn — where he lived alone — and headed to a liquor store in the same strip mall as the doomed nail salon to get more booze.
The serial drunk driver and self-admitted alcoholic, who was hit with a previous DWI charge in 2013 after falling asleep behind the wheel and striking a mailbox, stopped at the store and grabbed two bottles of Montebello Long Island Iced Tea Cocktail around 11 a.m.
Fourteen people were inside the salon when Schwally drove through the store, with many describing the scene as looking “like a bomb went off,” with glass, debris and furniture strewn everywhere as smoke and dust choked the air, police said.
When first responders pulled Schwally from the wreckage, he reeked of booze, slurred his words and had bloodshot eyes, prosecutors said.
A blood test at Good Samaritan University Hospital later showed his blood alcohol content was .17 — more than double the legal limit.
