A man has been charged with driving while intoxicated after crashing into a nail salon on Friday, resulting in the deaths of four people and injuries to nine others, police reported.
Suffolk County police stated that the incident occurred at Hawaii Nail & Spa on Grand Boulevard in Deer Park. Steven Schwally, 64, from Dix Hills, was driving a 2020 Chevy Traverse southbound at high speed through a parking lot in front of 421 Commack Road.
He then crossed Grand Boulevard and continued through the parking lot of 794 Grand Boulevard, crashing through the front window of the nail salon, police said. The salon was open for business at the time of the crash, police added.
Three women and one man were pronounced dead at the scene by a physician assistant from the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner. Nine others were transported to local hospitals, according to police.
Five were taken by ambulance to Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip, three to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, and one was airlifted by a Suffolk County Police helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital, police reported.
Schwally was arrested and charged with DWI. He was taken to Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip for treatment of 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, described the scene as chaotic. "The car just crashed through the nail salon.
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," he told Patch.
The first units arriving on the scene found a "mass casualty incident" and called for mutual aid, Stone said. "Our guys went to work, doing the job they do."
Nine departments and about 150 firefighters and EMS first responders were at the scene for hours, he added.
To support the first responders, a critical incident stress management team was activated. The team came to the firehouse to speak with members post-incident and will be available in the future for help and counseling, Stone said.
"Our fire and EMS personnel were the ultimate professionals. They carried out the mission and did their jobs in an exemplary fashion. Unfortunately, that's what we train for, so that we can do our jobs and hopefully, save some lives. I believe we did that and because of the work everyone did, there weren't more fatalities."
Stone mentioned that the fire department returned to the shop at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday when the car was being pulled from the salon to wash down the scene and retrieve equipment.
Suffolk County Legislator Tom Donnelly reflected on the crash in a social media post: "Thoughts and prayers to the innocent patrons and employees involved in the horrific accident at Hawaii Nails on Grand Boulevard. I have been on the scene since the initial call and it is a tragic situation.
Thank you to my fellow Deer Park Volunteer Fire Department responders and Chief Dominic Albanese, as well as all the first responders from the neighboring fire and rescue departments and everyone from Suffolk County Fire Rescue and Emergency Services — heroes on the scene almost immediately and who I know will be there for many, many more hours."
New York State Senator Dean Murray also commented on social media: "Please keep in your prayers all who were involved in the horrible accident in Deer Park this afternoon, including all of our first responders who were first on the scene."