Victims in fatal Long Island crash identified: 'a great bunch of people'
NEW YORK (PIX11) -- Officials released the names of the four victims who were killed and the others injured due to an alleged intoxicated driver crashing into a Long Island nail salon on Friday afternoon.
The intoxicated diver, 64-year-old Steven Schwally, was driving at a high rate of speed when he crossed over Grand Boulevard and continued through the parking lot of 794 Grand Blvd., crashing his vehicle through the front window of Hawaii Nail & Spa around 4:32 p.m., police said.
The four victims killed in the accident are
- Jiancai Chen, 37, of Bayside, Queens
- Emilia Rennhack, 30, of Deer Park
- Yan Xu, 41, of Flushing, Queens
- Meizi Zhang, 50, of Flushing, Queens
The owner, Jiancai Chen, Rennhack, an off-duty NYPD officer, and the other two customers were inside the business at the time of the accident.
"The whole vibe in the store was always happy," said long-time customer John Vasallo, who said they had a go-to nail tech at the salon. "They, we're a great bunch of people, and it's going to be a really sad time knowing they won't be here anymore."
For many in this tight-knit community, hearing the driver had been arrested for DWI is horrifying. "It is a shame. This is the society we live in. People have no respect for other drivers or people," Vasallo added.
Nine people, including the driver, were taken to a local hospital to be treated for their injuries.
Injured victims from the devastating accident include
- Nicole Miele, 54, of Dix Hills
- Ana Garcia, 53, of Bay Shore
- Wen Jun Cheng, 35, of Bayside, Queens
- Michael Mehale, 58, of Deer Park
Miele, Garcia, Cheng, and Mehale remain at area hospitals as they are being treated for serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
- 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
- A 12-year-old girl whose identity is being withheld due to her age was treated at area hospitals for injuries.
Steven Schwally, the alleged intoxicated driver of the vehicle, remains hospitalized and is expected to be arraigned at a later date.
Matthew Euzarraga is a multimedia journalist from El Paso, Texas. He has covered local news and LGBTQIA topics in the New York City Metro area since 2021. He joined the PIX11 Digital team in 2023. You can see more of his work here.