Driver drank 18 beers before fatal crash at Long Island beauty salon, prosecutors say

The driver who authorities say crashed his SUV into a Long Island nail salon on Friday, killing four people and injuring nine, told police he had drunk 18 beers the night before, CNN affiliate WABC reported.

Steven Schwally, 64, was drunk when he drove his SUV into Hawaii Nail & Spa. When police arrived at the scene, paramedics described Schwally as smelling of alcohol, with “bloodshot” eyes and “slurred and incoherent speech,” according to a court document.

Schwally, of nearby Dix Hills, was arraigned Monday in Suffolk County District Court, where he pleaded not guilty to a charge of driving under the influence and was ordered held on $1 million or $2 million bail, according to online court records.

The prosecutor said during the trial that Schwally drank 18 beers and stopped drinking at 4 a.m. Friday, WABC reported.

Online court records show Schwally is represented by the Suffolk County Legal Aid Society, which did not respond to requests for comment.

According to Suffolk County Police, the four people killed at the beauty salon were Jiancai Chen, 37, Yan Xu, 41, Meizi Zhang, 50, and Emilia Rennhack, 30.

According to Fund the First, a fundraising website for her family, Rennhack was an off-duty New York Police Department officer who was “getting her nails done for a friend’s wedding” at the salon that evening.

Chen’s nephew, Vincent Zheng, told CNN that his uncle is a manager at Hawaii Nail & Spa and was working with colleagues Xu and Zhang that day.

Chen is survived by two children and his wife, who was also injured in the accident, according to information collected on GoFundMe by his nephew.

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