A 66-year-old Long Island man is going behind bars for carelessly drinking and driving that led to the death of four innocent individuals, per The Independent. Video evidence captured the convict, identified as Steven Schwally, driving his SUV straight into a nail salon located in New York’s Deer Park strip mall back in 2024.
Schwally drove his SUV into a Long Island nail salon
On Wednesday, August 12, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office shared a press release, mentioning that Schwally was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. The man was convicted on 30 counts that included assault, vehicular homicide and murder. According to the news outlet, prosecutors revealed that the convict was driving at nearly 80 mph before crashing into the nail salon.
The horrific moment was recounted by the victims in court as they presented their statement in front of the jury. However, Schwally didn’t look in the direction of the victims’ families and even skipped most of the trial, deciding not to attend them. A blood report revealed that Schwally’s blood alcohol content was 0.17% more than twice the legal limit of 0.08%.
The crash killed four people, including an off-duty NYPD officer
Two bottles of Montebello Long Island Iced Tea Cocktail were retrieved from Schwally’s possession and another empty bottle was found in his Commack Motor Inn room. One of the victims of Schwally’s DUI incident was an NYPD officer named Emilia Rennhack. “Knowing he will die behind bars is the only comfort we have,” Rennhack’s husband, Carl, said after the verdict, per NBC4 New York.
The nail salon was co-owned by a couple and the wife, Wen Jun Chen, recalled how severely her husband, Jincai Chen, was injured and he eventually passed away. Though Wen Jun survived, the accident made her lose her spleen and dealt serious damage to her liver…