More survivors of deadly Deer Park nail salon crash file suit against alleged drunken driver

More survivors of the Deer Park nail salon crash that killed four people and injured nine others after an alleged drunken driver slammed into the salon at 78 mph filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking damages against the driver and others.

Nicole Saccente, 55, of Cape Coral, Florida, and Toni Saccente, 32, of West Islip, along with her underage daughter, who was also injured, filed suit against alleged drunken driver Steven Schwally, who displayed a "conscious and deliberate disregard" for others when he drove his vehicle into the nail salon, the lawsuit filed in Suffolk County Supreme Court said.

Schwally "operated his aforementioned motor vehicle in such a negligent, reckless and careless manner" and a "grossly negligent and/or wantonly reckless manner" that caused those three survivors "to sustain severe and serious permanent personal injuries" that "incapacitated them," the suit read.

The lawsuit filed by the Saccente family is the third suit filed against Schwally in connection with the crash. It seeks unspecified compensation.

Schwally, 64, pleaded not guilty earlier this month to four counts of second-degree murder and other charges.

Prosecutors have said Schwally’s blood alcohol content was 0.17%, more than twice the legal intoxication limit of 0.08%.

Schwally, a Marine veteran and retiree who previously worked for a private security firm, initially told Suffolk police that he drank 18 beers the night before he drove his 2020 Chevrolet Traverse at a high speed into Hawaii Nail & Spa on June 28 at 4:32 p.m.

Prosecutors said at his arraignment early this month that 5½ hours before the crash, Schwally bought two 375-milliliter bottles of Montebello Long Island Iced Tea Cocktail and drove around the area until the crash. Fourteen people were inside as he drove through the storefront, Suffolk prosecutors said.

Both Nicole Saccente and Toni Saccente were "internally, externally and permanently injured" and have as a result been prevented from working, the suit said without specifying their injuries. The child "sustained severe and permanent personal injuries", the lawsuit said. They also were not specified.

Their attorney, Christopher M. Kelly, whose office is in Merrick, did not respond to a message seeking comment. Neither woman could be reached for comments. Their husbands are also listed as plaintiffs in the suit.

Killed in the crash were salon co-owner Jian Chai "Ken" Chen, 37, of Bayside, Queens; off-duty NYPD Officer Emilia Rennhack, 30, of Deer Park; and salon employees Yan Xu, 41, and Mei Zi Zhang, 50, both of Flushing, Queens.

The suit also names Hawaii Nail & Spa, Yong Fang LLC, which owns the strip mall where the salon was located, and Stants Liquors, Inc., which allegedly sold Schwally alcohol before the crash.

The suit alleges that Yong Fang LLC was negligent and reckless for "failing to properly design, configure and construct the subject premises with anti-vehicular intrusion devices such as but not limited to safety bollards or any other devices designed, constructed and place to address traffic management and vehicular intrusion."

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.