DEER PARK, NY — The man who crashed into a Deer Park nail salon recently had a blood alcohol concentration of more than two times the legal limit, prosecutors said in court Friday.
Family and friends of the victims of the Deer Park nail salon crash that killed four people and severely injured nine others gathered in solidarity at the Central Islip courthouse on Friday during a scheduled court date for Steven Schwally, the driver of the SUV that plowed through the shop.
According to Schwally’s Suffolk County Legal Aid Society attorney, he is still hospitalized and under medical care, and could not attend the proceeding.
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At the hearing, prosecutors said that Schwally’s “toxicology report came back with a .17 percent BAC”—more than double the legal limit of .08 percent — at the time of the crash.
Schwally admitted to drinking 18 beers the night before the crash, according to Newsday.
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Schwally was arrested and charged with DWI after the crash, was hospitalized and later arraigned, police said.
After the crash, Schwally pleaded not guilty to the DWI charge and was held on $1 million cash bail, according to reports.
At the hearing, his attorney asked for Schwally to be released on his own recognizance based on the fact that the case is currently being prosecuted as a misdemeanor.
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Judge Evan S. Tanenbaum denied the application for release and set the next court date for July 30.
The DA’s office said they were unable to comment on whether Schwally would be facing upgraded charges.
On June 28, Schwally, 64, of Dix Hills drove an SUV at high speed through the parking lot in front of 421 Commack Road, 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, Suffolk County police said.
At the time of the crash, Schwally, a Marine veteran, was reportedly living at the Motor Inn in Commack, according to ABC7.
The crash killed NYPD officer Emilia Rennhack, 30, of Deer Park, Jiancai Chen, 37, of Bayside, Queens, Yan Xu, 41, of Flushing, Queens, and Meizi Zhang, 50, of Flushing, Queens, police said.
On Friday, Renhack’s husband, NYPD Detective Carl Rennhack solemnly attended the court hearing along with numerous family members of the other victims killed in the crash who told Patch they were still too distraught to speak of the tragedy.
In addition, the crash seriously injured Nicole Miele, 54, of Dix Hills, Ana Garcia, 53, of Bay Shore, Wen Jun Cheng, 35, of Bayside, Queens, and Michael Mehale, 58, of Deer Park, Carol Garcia, 23, of Bay Shore, Toni Saccente, 32, of West Islip, Krystal Rodriguez, 37, of Bay Shore, Nicole Saccente, 55, from Cape Coral, Florida, and a 12-year-old girl whose identity is being withheld, police said.
Hundreds of people gathered on July 2 to mourn the tragedy where grieving members of the Deer Park community placed flowers and photos in front of the demolished, and now boarded-up nail salon.
During the vigil, Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer spoke to the crowd and assured grieving community members that “justice will be served” to ensure that the victims “didn’t die in vain.”
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