Police release IDs of 4 killed in LI nail salon crash: NYPD's Emilia Rennhack among victims, sources say

Police on Saturday released the identities of four people, including an off-duty NYPD officer from Long Island, who were killed Friday afternoon when an allegedly drunken driver crashed his SUV through a Deer Park nail salon.

Three of the victims were from Queens, according to Suffolk police: Jiancai Chen, 37, of Bayside, and Yan Xu, 41, and Meizi Zhang, 50, both of Flushing. The officer, Emilia Rennhack, 30, of Deer Park, had been assigned to the 102nd Precinct in Queens, according to the NYPD.

Her husband is an NYPD detective, according to a post by his union, the Detectives' Endowment Association.

Suffolk police on Saturday said Steven Schwally, 64, of Dix Hills, drove his 2020 Chevy Traverse into the front of Hawaii Nail & Spa on Grand Boulevard about 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The salon was open and conducting business at the time of the crash.

Schwally was charged with driving while intoxicated. He was taken to Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. He remained hospitalized Saturday, police said, adding that he will be arraigned at a later date.

Police said four people were being treated at local hospitals for serious but not life-threatening injuries Saturday: 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.

A brother of Garcia, Aurelio Alcerro of Connecticut, said his sister has since been discharged.

Five other people, including a 12-year-old girl, were treated at local hospitals for less-serious injuries, police said.

The nail salon is located in a strip mall, which is next to a traffic light and across from a Kohl's shopping center.

Police said Schally drove "at a high rate of speed" through the parking lot in front of Kohl's, then crossed Grand Boulevard and continued through the small parking lot in front of the salon, where he crashed through the front window.

The out-of-control vehicle plowed through the store, trapping employees and customers inside, Deer Park Fire Department Third Assistant Chief Dominic Albanese said Friday.

Records show Schwally previously pleaded guilty to a charge of driving under the influence, a misdemeanor, in April 2014, after he was arrested by Suffolk police in March 2013. Schwally received probation, his license was suspended and he was fined $500 in that case.

Shock near Queens precinct

At the 102nd Precinct station house in Richmond Hill, Queens, where Rennhack had been assigned, black and purple bunting hung from the front door Saturday.

Ricky Ragoobeer, who lives across the street from the station house, said he was stunned to hear the news about the officer. He said she had been a helpful go-between for neighbors and police.

Salaam Gamil, 34, the owner of Jimmy Deli at the corner of 118th Street and Jamaica Avenue, half a block from the station house, said Rennhack used to stop by all the time to get her salad for lunch. He said she had been patronizing his deli since 2018.

On Thursday, the last time they spoke, she was excited about her future, he said.

"She was so happy," Gamil said.

He would call her "my sister," and she greeted him with "Salam alaikum" — translated to "peace be upon you" — because he is Arabic.

"Her and her husband would come by all the time to talk," he said. "Sometimes he would spend 30 minutes talking about everything, family, politics, whatever."

On Saturday at 1 a.m., Gamil said, another officer who knew they were friends texted him to tell him that she had died.

"I see my text and I was crying at 6 a.m. this morning," he said. " ... We lost one of the most wonderful [people] in the 102nd Precinct."

Later Saturday morning, Gamil went through his photos and found a picture of Rennhack in uniform and took it to the printer's so that he could hang it in his shop window to commemorate her.

People at Rennhack's Deer Park home declined to comment Saturday.

Efforts to reach family members of the others who died were unsuccessful.

Salon 'never not busy'

At the salon Saturday, bottles of nail polish were strewn near piles of debris. Anguished friends of Rennhack said they drove from New Jersey to leave flowers and three lanterns. They called her a sweetheart but were too distraught to provide their names.

The SUV was gone after remaining inside for the store for hours after the crash, its taillights flashing. All of the storefront windows were destroyed.

Workers prepared to secure the salon with plywood. Others were inside, inspecting the rubble.

Longtime nail salon customer Kimberly Oswald, 56, of Bay Shore, said she was "heartbroken" as she looked at the damage. She and other clients noted that the kind and welcoming staff had turned the salon into one of the most popular in the area.

"This place was never not busy. There are literally three salons within walking distance of here. Here, around the block, and across the street, but this was always the most packed."

"They treated everybody the same, with respect and kindness and big hearts," Oswald said. "I can't even imagine what they're going through."

A day earlier, nine fire departments and about 150 firefighters and paramedics had responded to the scene, along with eight ambulances. Fire officials had activated their crisis team for a mass-casualty event.

Experts: Safety upgrades can help

Local and national experts said traffic and pedestrian safety improvements could prevent similar crashes.

There were 1,593 crashes into buildings and walls on Long Island from 2018 to 2022, eight of which were fatal, according to the DMV’s Accident Information System database. None of the previous crashes involved multiple fatalities.

Eric Alexander, director of Vision Long Island, a Northport-based planning organization, called for traffic-calming solutions that start on local roadways.

He said speeding drivers on Grand Boulevard, which has wide lanes, are a long-standing safety concern.

Narrower car lanes could help slow down drivers, along with wider sidewalks and crosswalks, medians and other measures, Alexander said Saturday.

“If you go into residential neighborhoods or neighborhood retail areas, you want narrow lanes where you can still move, but you’re going to go slower,” he said. “You’re not going to be gunning it.”

Suburban strip malls also can be better designed to keep pedestrians and shoppers safer.

Rob Reiter, co-founder of the Colorado-based Storefront Safety Council, analyzes vehicle-into-building crashes nationwide and said DWI is the third-leading cause of such crashes, after operator and pedal errors.

Designing parking lots to avoid nose-in parking and installing concrete bollards can help reduce risk, Reiter said.

“When you have nose-in parking, you’re aiming a 5,000-pound vehicle at a glass, and there’s no question that once it gets moving, it’s going to go through the wall and hit people,” Reiter said. “When you have an unprotected storefront and a vehicle comes in, no one can get out of the way. It’s a bowling ball, bowling pin kind of a deal.”

New York doesn’t have any legal requirements that bollards or other protections be used in front of commercial storefronts, though some larger chains have implemented them to boost safety, he said.