Greater Babylon coverage is funded in part by The Argyle Theatre, where Broadway comes to Babylon. Click here for tickets to ‘Bye Bye Birdie,’ performing July 11 through Sept. 1.
A Dix Hills woman seriously hurt in the Deer Park nail salon crash that killed four people six weeks ago is suing the man accused of being drunk when he slammed his SUV into the business, the liquor store that sold him alcohol prior to the wreck, and the nail salon, according to a Newsday report today.
Nicole Miele, 54, suffered fractured ribs, a broken sternum and cuts to her eyes, face and chest, Newsday reported, when, prosecutors allege, Steven Schwally, 64, of Dix Hills slammed his Chevy Traverse into Hawai Nail & Spa at 78 mph.
Jianchai “Kenny” Chen of Bayside; Yan Xu, 41, and Meizi Zhang, 50, both of Flushing, Queens; and off-duty NYPD officer Emilia Rennhack of Deer Park died in the crash. Four people inside the salon were seriously injured.
Schwally has pleaded not guilty to 37 charges, namely homicide, aggravated vehicular manslaughter and DWI. Prosecutors said his blood alcohol content was .17, over double the legal limit to get behind the wheel.
Miele told Newsday that she was a regular at the nail salon and that Zhang had just finished her manicure in the back of the salon when the Chevy Traverse blasted into the salon.
Miele and her husband Mark are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The couple is suing Stants Liquors – located next door to Hawaii Nail & Spa — for gross negligence for selling liquor to Schwally, Newsday reported. Hawaii Nail & Spa and Yong Fang LLC, which owns the strip mall, are also named in the suit for not having installed barriers in front of the shop.
Top image: Instagram video still (@hawaii_nail_spa)
