Drunk driver who smashed into Deer Park nail salon gets 25 years to life in four deaths

The Dix Hills man convicted of murdering four people when he drove drunk into a nail salon in the summer of 2024, was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years to life in prison.

Steven Schwally, 66, was found guilty in June of four counts of second-degree murder, along with manslaughter, aggravated vehicular homicide and DWI charges, for plowing his Chevy Traverse into the Hawaii Nail & Spa on Grand Boulevard in Deer Park on June 28, 2024.

There was some speculation that Schwally might not appear in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead for his sentencing due to a May heart attack that prevented him from being present in court in June to hear the verdict.

But the convicted killer showed up for the sentencing hearing, where he heard victim impact statements read aloud and received the maximum sentence from State Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro.

The 4:30 p.m. crash took the lives of salon owner Jiancai “Ken” Chen, 37; employees Yan Xu, 41, and Meizi Zhang, 50; and off-duty NYPD Officer Emilia Rennhack, who was getting her nails done ahead of a colleague’s wedding that night. Nine others were injured, some of whom needed to be rescued from beneath the vehicle.

Prosecutors said Schwally had been boozing for hours before the crash, telling police he had consumed roughly 18 beers overnight and didn’t remember much of the day. He also had purchased two bottles of Montebello Long Island Iced Tea Cocktail from a liquor store in the same shopping plaza as the nail salon on the same day as the crash.

Following the crash, investigators found two empty 375-milliliter bottles of Montebello Long Island Iced Tea Cocktail on the floorboard of Schwally’s vehicle, authorities said.

“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 Raymond Tierney said.

“Four families are now living with the deadly consequences, including the family of an off-duty New York City police officer,” the DA continued. “We have now achieved justice on behalf of these families and survivors who continue to deal with the fallout from the defendant’s decisions.”

Prosecutors argued at trial that Schwally’s actions amounted to depraved indifference to human life rather than a mere accident.

Schwally, who had not been present for parts of his trial after suffering a heart attack while at the Suffolk County jail, asked his attorney Christopher Cassar to share a lengthy statement in court.

“I am not a monster,” he said in the statement, Newsday reported.

Later, after the judge gave me a second opportunity to speak, Schwally spoke. “I just want to wholeheartedly say how terribly sorry I am for my actions that day,” he said, according to the report.

The case drew heavy attention from the NYPD community throughout the trial, with members of Rennhack’s 102nd Precinct attending proceedings in support of her family.

_{Top: Defendant Steven Schwally appears for arraignment at First District Court in Central Islip, N.Y., on Monday, July 1, 2024. (James Carbone/Newsday via AP, Pool)}