Man Sentenced In Deadly Deer Park Nail Salon Crash

RIVERHEAD, NY — Steven Schwally was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years to life in prison for the deadly Deer Park nail salon crash that killed four people, including an off-duty NYPD officer, and injured nine others.

Schwally, 66, was sentenced by Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro after a packed and emotional hearing in Riverhead, where survivors and victims’ families described the lasting trauma of the June 28, 2024, crash at Hawaii Nail & Spa.

Schwally was convicted in June of four counts of second-degree murder and several related charges after prosecutors said he drove drunk through a busy Deer Park parking lot at high speed, ran four stop signs, sped through a red light and crashed his 2020 Chevrolet Traverse SUV into the salon.

Ambro, who presided over Schwally’s five-week trial, said he heard testimony from 44 witnesses and reviewed 420 exhibits before imposing sentence Wednesday.

“Your actions and behavior on that day are textbook examples of a depraved indifference to human life,” Ambro told Schwally.

The judge said Schwally had displayed “nothing short of a complete and utter disregard for human life” from the day of the crash through sentencing.

“I don’t think you care,” Ambro said.

Ambro sentenced Schwally to 25 years to life on each of the four murder counts, with the sentences running concurrently as required by law. The judge also imposed concurrent sentences on the other charges, including assault, aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving.

Ambro also said his sentence would include a recommendation to the parole board that Schwally never be released from prison.

“Your many victims here today deserve nothing less,” Ambro said.

The crash killed NYPD officer Emilia Rennhack, 30, of Deer Park; Jian Chai Chen, 37, of Bayside, Queens; Yan Xu, 41, of Flushing, Queens; and Meizi Zhang, 50, of Flushing, Queens.

Rennhack was a patron at the salon and an off-duty New York City police officer. Chen was the owner of the business, while Xu and Zhang were employees, prosecutors said.

Nine others were injured in the crash. Among them, Toni Saccente who told the court she had gone to the salon with her daughter Annabelle and mother-in-law for what was supposed to be a normal family outing.

“Within a matter of seconds, everything changed,” Saccente said.

She described the chaos after the SUV crashed through the salon, saying it felt “as if an explosion had happened in this building.” She said she could not find her daughter and feared the worst.

“I just kept thinking to myself, ‘Please, God, don’t let her be dead,’” Saccente said.

Saccente said she and her daughter continue to live with physical pain, anxiety, PTSD and memories that bring them back to the crash. She said her daughter, who was 12 at the time, spent the past two years in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, physical therapy and doctors’ offices.

“No child should have to spend their childhood recovering from somebody else’s decisions,” Saccente said.

In one year alone, Saccente said she and her daughter attended more than 165 medical appointments.

Annabelle said she endured two surgeries to repair her foot, was told there was a chance she might never walk again and continues to live with permanent scars from glass that struck her face and body.

“Every time I look in the mirror, I’m reminded of what happened,” she said.

She said she missed more than 200 days of school and continues to struggle with PTSD, panic attacks, anxiety and pain.

“June 28 isn’t just a date on the calendar anymore,” Annabelle said. “It follows me every day.”

She said speeding cars, nail salons and open parking lots now trigger fear.

“I will never be that little girl again,” she said. “I will never have the same freedom and sense of safety I had before June 28.”

A statement was also read in court on behalf of Wen Jun Cheng, who was injured in the crash and whose husband, Jian Chai Chen, was killed.

Cheng said she lost her husband and nearly lost her own life. She said she suffered devastating injuries, including severe internal trauma and the loss of her spleen.

“After the accident, I had to tell our young children that their father would never come home again,” Cheng said in the statement.

Carl Rennhack, Emilia Rennhack’s husband, told the court his wife was “perfect in every way” and described the future they had planned together. He asked Ambro to send Schwally to prison for life.

“She should still be here today with us, but she’s not because of him,” Rennhack said. “Knowing he will die behind bars is the only comfort our family can have."

Assistant District Attorney Alex Bopp asked Ambro to impose the maximum sentence, telling the court Schwally turned his SUV into “an instrument of mass destruction.”

“In a matter of seconds, four innocent people were killed and nine others were injured,” he said. “At the time of the crash, four people lay pinned underneath his vehicle, taking their last breath, and it was all about him,” Bopp said.

Bopp said Schwally had prior alcohol-related driving arrests and had been sentenced to probation shortly before the fatal crash.

Christopher Cassar, Schwally’s attorney, read a statement on Schwally’s behalf before sentencing, acknowledging the victims and their families and said he took responsibility for causing the deaths and injuries

“I recognize that the jury rendered its verdict after hearing the evidence presented at trial, and nothing in this statement is intended to minimize the harm suffered,” the statement said.

The statement also referenced Schwally’s heart attack during the trial and said he waived his right to be present because he did not want to force a retrial and make the victims’ families relive the case.

“I take responsibility for my actions,” Schwally said in the statement. “I’m responsible for causing the deaths of those who lost their lives, for causing great physical and emotional pain to the surviving victims and all their families.”

Schwally also took a moment to turn to address the victims.

“I would just like to say wholeheartedly how terribly sorry I am for my actions on that day,” Schwally said. “I never in my wildest dreams could have ever imagined something like that, that I could do something like that, and I’m so sorry.”

Cassar said Schwally had indicated remorse in a pre-sentence report and in a 2024 interview with the New York Post.

After the sentencing, Chief Assistant District Attorney Allen Bode said the case showed the deadly consequences of drunk driving.

“$20 — that’s how much it costs to take a rideshare from Commack to Deer Park,” Bode said. “$20, and this defendant chose to drive drunk instead.”

Bode also called on Albany lawmakers to pass legislation strengthening penalties for deadly driving cases.

According to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, trial evidence showed Schwally left his room at the Commack Motor Inn, where he lived by himself, on June 28, 2024.

At about 11 a.m., prosecutors said, Schwally bought two bottles of Montebello Long Island Iced Tea Cocktail from a liquor store in the same strip mall as Hawaii Nail & Spa.

Around 4:30 p.m., Schwally drove recklessly through the parking lot in front of Kohl’s and Stop & Shop on Commack Road, swerved around two cars, entered the opposite lane, ignored four stop signs, sped through five crosswalks and narrowly missed two pedestrians near the Kohl’s crosswalk, prosecutors said.

At the end of the parking lot, prosecutors said, Schwally drove around a vehicle stopped at a red light, blew through the red light at a high rate of speed and went airborne across Grand Boulevard before crashing into the salon.

There were 14 people inside the business at the time: five employees and nine customers, prosecutors said.

Schwally’s blood alcohol content was 0.17 percent, more than twice the legal limit, according to prosecutors. A search warrant for the SUV showed Schwally was traveling 78 mph when the vehicle went airborne, prosecutors said.

Investigators recovered two empty 375-milliliter bottles of Montebello Long Island Iced Tea Cocktail and one full bottle from the front passenger floorboard of the SUV, prosecutors said. An additional empty bottle was recovered from the bathroom trash at his Commack Motor Inn room.

NYPD Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said Schwally had to face the reality of the lives he took and the injuries he caused.

“He took away his best friend, someone that he believed he was going to spend the rest of his life with,” Hendry said of Carl Rennhack.

Hendry said Emilia Rennhack’s fellow officers would continue to honor her.

“We will never forget our sister Emilia Rennhack,” Hendry said. “These police officers behind me will not allow her story to end here today.”