Steven Schwally, Dix Hills, N.Y man charged in DWI crash into Deer Park nail salon that left 4 dead and 9 injured after speeding and losing control and crashing through building housing salon.
A 64 year old man has been arrested for allegedly drink driving and crashing his minivan into a Deer Par nail salon in Long Island, NY that killed four people and injured 9, Friday.
Steven Schwally, 64, of Dix Hills, N.Y, who survived the crash was booked with driving while intoxicated as the man now faces additional pending charges according to a Suffolk County Police press release.
Authorities say Schwally was driving at a high rate of speed through a parking lot on Commack Road. He then crossed Grand Boulevard and plowed into the front entrance of the nail salon.
NYPD cop, 30, doing nails ahead of wedding id as fatal LI nail salon victim
Speeding driver was trying to pass another vehicle before losing control
Police say say three women and one man died after Schwally drove through Hawaii Nail & Spa on Grand Boulevard. Nine other people were also injured in the incident.
All 4 individuals killed were at the time inside of the nail salon when Schwally plowed through the establishment just on 4.30pm, Friday afternoon.
It remained unclear how many occupants were in the vehicle along with the number of individuals in the nail salon at the time of the crash. To date it is believed Schwally was the sole occupant of the minivan when it careened into the Deer Park building.
‘Somebody saw that the man was driving and he came from this parking lot from Kohl’s and he was trying to pass somebody, and then they pretty much ran right into the nail salon and you could hear people screaming and yelling,’ witness Danielle Tanis told ABC7NY.
Video images showed a gaping hole outside of Hawaii Nail Salon and Spa, along with mangled pedicure chairs along with Schwally’s 2020 Chevy Traverse minivan ensconced wholly inside the establishment.
BREAKING NEWS: Four people are dead and at least nine are injured after a car crashed into a Deer Park nail salon, #Suffolk fire officials say. https://t.co/AEbaM2khNE pic.twitter.com/s2sctoKwcB
— News12LI (@News12LI) June 28, 2024
Speeding driver crashed through front window of nail salon with vehicle entirely ensconced inside establishment
First responders had to rescue several victims who were trapped at the scene, according to officials.
‘It’s horrible. It’s going to be tough for the community, tough for the volunteer fire department,’ said Deer Park Fire Department Assistant Chief Dominic Albanese.
Authorities say Schwally survived the crash and was taken to a hospital. He will be arraigned in court at a later date, New12 Long Island reported.
Leading into the crash, Schwally is reported to have been driving southbound at a high rate of speed through the parking lot in front of 421 Commack Road, then crossed over Grand Boulevard and continued through the parking lot of 794 Grand Boulevard, where he crashed the vehicle through the front window of the nail salon, police said.
The salon was open and conducting business at the time of the crash, police said.
Three women and a man were pronounced dead at the scene by a physician assistant from the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner; nine additional people were transported to local hospitals, police said.
Further charges pending
Five were transported by ambulance to Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip, three were transported by ambulance to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, and one was airlifted via Suffolk County Police helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital, police said.
Schwally was arrested and charged with DWI, police said. He was transported to Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries and will be arraigned at a later date, police said.
Offered Mark Stone, public information officer with the Deer Park Fire Department via Patch, ‘It was a chaotic scene.’
Adding, ‘The car just crashed through the nail salon. We deal with car accidents regularly. It’s not uncommon to have a car crash into a building; we’ve dealt with that before. But this one traveled through the building and finally came to a rest at the back of the shop.’
A total of nine departments and about 150 firefighters and EMS first responders at the scene for hours, the official said.
To date authorities have not released the identities of the victims.
Detectives are asking anyone with information on the crash to call the Major Case Unit at 631-852-6555.
