A Long Island driver accused of crashing into a local nail salon and killing four people once drunkenly slammed into a mailbox and passed out behind the wheel, records show.
Steven Schwally, 64, who was arraigned on drunk driving charges Monday in the fatal Friday crash at Hawaii Nail & Spa that killed NYPD cop Emilia Rennhack, was also hit with a DWI charge in Dix Hills on March 25, 2013, records reviewed by The Post reveal.
“The defendant had struck a mailbox in front of 19 Weathervane Way and fled the scene,” a police report from the earlier mishap reads. “The defendant was located a short distance away at the intersection of Millet Street and Village Drive West.
Accused drunk driver Steven Schwally, 64, was previously charged with drunk driving in 2013 after hitting a mailbox and passing out behind the wheel, records show. Obtained by The New York Post
Police said Steven Schwally, 64, is charged with driving drunk and slamming into the Hawaii Nail & Spa salon in Deer Park, killing four people. Paul Mazza
“The defendant had struck a mailbox in front of 19 Weathervane Way and fled the scene,” a police report from the earlier mishap reads. Kevin C Downs forThe New York Post
“The defendant was still seated in the driver’s seat,” the report said. “The vehicle’s keys were still in the ignition, the vehicle’s engine was on and the defendant was asleep.”
Schwally pleaded guilty in the case and was sentenced to three years probation, records show.
On Friday, he was allegedly drunk behind the wheel again when cops say he drove into the nail salon and killed or injured more than a dozen people inside, including a 12-year-old girl.
Schwally was ordered held on $1 million bail in the new case while a Suffolk County grand jury weighs more serious charges.
Rennhack, 30, was having her nails done for a fellow cop’s wedding later in the day when she and the three others — Jiancai Chen, 37, Yan Xu, 41 and Meizi Zhang, 50 — were killed.
On Friday, he was allegedly drunk behind the wheel again when cops say he drove into the nail salon and killed or injured more than a dozen people inside, including a 12-year-old girl. Wayne Carrington for NY PostRennhack joined the force in 2018 and married fellow cop Carl Rennhack in September — with the grieving husband in court to stare down his wife’s accused killer on Monday.
Schwally was injured in the crash and taken to Good Samaritan Hospital — until Monday when he was discharged and escorted to Suffolk County court by police to face new charges.
He has been charged with driving while intoxicated but is expected to be hit with additional charges.
NYPD Police Officer Emilia Rennhack, a newlywed, was killed while having her nails done for a friend’s wedding later on Friday. NYPD 102nd Precinct / Facebook
The Long Island nail salon where four people were killed and nine others injured by a drunk driver has become a community memorial. John Roca
Rennhack joined the force in 2018 and married fellow cop Carl Rennhack in September. NYPD News/ XMeanwhile, the nail salon has become a rallying point for mourning locals, who have flooded the scene with flowers and candles and turned it into a community memorial.
According to court documents, Schwally had at least one earlier brush with cops in Suffolk County — when he was issued a citation for speaking on his phone while driving in Dix Hills in 2001.
