NEW YORK — An off-duty New York Police Department police officer is among the four victims killed in a DWI crash at a Long Island nail salon.
The 30-year-old officer was assigned to the 102nd Precinct in Queens, where her husband is a detective.
Police say the 64-year-old driver was drunk when he plowed an SUV through the Long Island nail salon, killing four people and injuring nine others.
The driver, Steven Schwally of Dix Hills, has been charged with DWI, and additional charges are pending against him.
The horrific crash happened at a Deer Park strip mall Friday just after 4:30 p.m., when authorities say Schwally drove a 2020 Chevy Traverse clear through Hawaii Nail & Spa. The victims who were killed were all inside the store and died at the scene.
Authorities say Schwally was speeding through a parking lot on Commack Road, crossed Grand Boulevard, and slammed into the front entrance of the nail salon, plowing through the length of the store.
“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,” said witness Danielle Tanis.
Several others remained hospitalized Saturday. Schwally was hospitalized as well with non-life-threatening injuries.
This is not Schwally’s first DWI incident. He pleaded guilty to similar charges in Suffolk County in March 2013.
Schwally was sentenced to probation, fined $500 and his license was suspended.
Deer Park Fire Department Assistant Chief Dominic Albanese described a nightmarish scene at the nail salon, with some victims trapped inside.
“It’s horrible, it’s going to be tough for the community … tough for the volunteer fire department, but we’re going to get through it. (It’s) just a horrible thing to see especially at this time of the year with all the good things happening, graduations and what not,” Albanese said in a news conference Friday evening.
Witnesses told of a sudden eruption of chaos at the shopping center on what had been a normal Friday afternoon of shopping and running errands.
Outside Hawaii Nail Salon and Spa, there is a gaping hole, and inside, mangled pedicure chairs.
“Yesterday I did my nails. Look, yesterday I did my manicure and pedicure,” said a stunned customer, Valerie Fisher.
“My heart dropped because life is so fragile. Life is so so fragile,” added Fisher.
Surviving friends and relatives are now left to cope with unbearable pain.
One man Eyewitness News spoke to identified himself as the nail salon owner’s brother. He says his sister was married to the other owner, a couple that customers say they love.
“They were really really nice. Really nice people,” said Teresa Specht.
The victims’ names have not yet been released.
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