Off-Duty NYPD Officer Among 4 Killed In Long Island Nail Salon Crash

DEER PARK, NY — A New York City Police Department officer was one of four people killed when a man crashed his car into a Long Island nail salon on Friday, according to authorities and reports.

Emilia Rennhack died after police said an intoxicated driver crashed his car through the front window of the Hawaii Nail & Spa on Grand Boulevard in Deer Park shortly after 4:30 p.m.

Rennhack, an officer at the 102nd Precinct in Queens, was off duty when the crash occurred, authorities said.

The NYC Police Benevolent Association said its members' "hearts are breaking" in a statement on social media.

"Please join us in praying for her family, friends and coworkers," the PBA wrote, adding that funeral arrangements were to follow.

Rennhack's life "was taken far too soon," NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban added in his own statement of sympathy and support.

The three other people killed were Queens residents, according to Suffolk County Police: Yan Xu, 41, of Flushing; Meizi Zhang, 50, of Flushing; and Jiancai Chen, 37, of Bayside.

Officials said 64-year-old Steven Schwally of Dix Hills was driving a 2020 Chevy Traverse at a high rate of speed through the parking lot in front of 421 Commack Road.

He then crossed over Grand Boulevard and continued through the parking lot of 794 Grand Boulevard, where he crashed the nail salon, police said.

• RELATED: Police ID 4 Killed, 9 Hurt In 'Mass Fatality' Nail Salon Crash On Long Island

The salon was open and conducting business at the time of the crash, police said. Rennhack, two other women and a man were pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Nine others were taken to local hospitals with injuries.

Schwally was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated, police said. He was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries and will be arraigned at a later date, police said.

Mark Stone, public information officer with the Deer Park Fire Department, called the crash a "chaotic scene."

"The car just crashed through the nail salon," Stone told Patch. "We deal with car accidents regularly. It's not uncommon to have a car crash into a building; we've dealt with that before. But this one traveled through the building and finally came to a rest at the back of the shop."

A total of nine departments and about 150 firefighters and EMS first responders were at the scene for hours, he said.

Patch staff writer Lisa Finn contributed to this report.