New Court Date For Man Accused Of Murder In Deer Park Nail Salon Crash

DEER PARK, NY — A new court date takes place in Riverhead on Thursday for the case involving Steven Schwally, the man accused of four counts of murder in the tragic Deer Park nail salon crash that killed four people and severely injured nine others.

Schwally, 64, of Dix Hills has remained in custody since driving an SUV through a nail salon while drunk and will not attend the hearing, Judge Richard Ambro confirmed in court on Oct. 2.

At the hearing, which Schwally attended in a wheelchair wearing a green Suffolk County Correctional Facility uniform and sporting a new buzz cut, Ambro approved Christopher Cassar as his new lawyer, replacing Mathrew Hereth of the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County.

Cassar said that due to a prior leg injury on his right side, Schwally was unable to take his foot off the gas on June 28 when he drove 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.

At a hearing in July, 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. Prior to that, Schwally admitted to drinking 18 beers the night before the crash, according to Newsday.

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.

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, police said.

After the crash, Schwally pleaded not guilty to the DWI charge and was held on $1 million cash bail, according to reports.

Then on August 1, Schwally was indicted on 38 charges—including four second-degree murder charges—and "used his 5,000-pound vehicle to kill," prosecutors said in court. Judge Ambro also denied Schwally's Legal Aid attorney's request for bail and suspended his license.

In late August, five victims who survived the tragedy filed lawsuits against Schwally, according to reports from News 12.

Two of the lawsuits filed were against Schwally and Stants Liquors, Inc., the liquor store that allegedly sold him two 42-proof, 375-millimeter bottles of Montebello Iced Tea cocktail before the fateful crash.

If convicted, Schwally is facing 25 years to life in prison, Judge Ambro said.

Cassar was not immediately available for comment.