Victims Ana and Carol Garcia file lawsuit in deadly Deer Park nail salon crash

A mother and daughter, injured with seven others after an alleged drunken driver crashed into a Deer Park nail salon, killing four people, have filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the motorist and the liquor store that sold him alcohol, the second such lawsuit since Friday.

Because of motorist Steven Schwally's "negligence, carelessness, recklessness, gross negligence, willful, and wanton conduct" on June 28, Ana and Carol Garcia suffered serious injuries, according to the lawsuit, filed Monday in State Supreme Court in Riverhead.

Garden City attorney, Edward J. Andrea, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the mother and daughter as well as Jose Cordova-Barco, the husband and father of the pair.

Schwally, 64, told police he drank 18 beers the night before he "plowed through" the front of Hawaii Nail & Spa in a "violent explosion," a Suffolk County prosecutor said at the retiree's arraignment last month.

He pleaded not guilty to 37 charges, including homicide, aggravated vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving. Prosecutors have said Schwally's blood alcohol content was 0.17, more than twice the New York State legal limit of .08. He remained in custody Monday at Suffolk County Correctional Facility in Riverhead.

The lawsuit also seeks damages against Stant's Liquor, located next to the salon on Grand Boulevard, alleging the sale of alcoholic beverages to a "visibly intoxicated patron was an unlawful sale/furnishment of alcohol."

Jian Zhang, listed as the principal of the corporation that owns the liquor store, declined to comment when reached by phone Monday.

The Garcias' lawsuit was the second in recent days following Friday's filing by a Dix Hills woman, Nicole Miele, 54, against Schwally, the liquor store and the salon.

In an interview, Andrea said Schwally was "a regular customer" at the liquor store.

Suffolk police said he drove his 2020 Chevy Traverse into the front of the salon about 4:30 p.m. The salon's owner, two employees and a customer, an off-duty NYPD officer, died and the Garcias as well as seven others were injured.

Andrea said his clients were seated on a couch "next to the officer who died."

"The car came from behind, lifted both of them off the couch," Andrea said. "Carol had a broken pelvis" and also, possibly, a fractured hip. Andrea added that they were still waiting for medical test results to get a more complete picture of her injuries.

Carol Garcia "had tears on a shoulder, and an issue with her neck. The mother, Ana, has deep lacerations all over face, severe shoulder pain with the possibility of surgery."

He said Carol Garcia is 23 and her mother is 54. Both women worked at a deli in East Northport, but the suit said the women's injuries have prevented them from returning.

The emotional toll exacted by the crash was evident Monday night throughout an upstairs hall of the Deer Park Fire Department. Elected officials from the Town of Babylon, Suffolk County and New York State recognized the efforts of the first responders to the crash.

“These men and women have seen a lot over the years,” Babylon Town Supervisor Rick Schaffer said. “I don’t think anything could prepare them or anybody else for what they came upon that afternoon.”

Members of the Suffolk County Critical Incident Stress Management Team have visited those who were first on the scene of the crash at least four times to offer mental health support, officials said. Firefighters from the Deer Park, North Babylon, Dix Hills, West Babylon, Babylon Village, North Lindenhurst, Copiague and Brentwood fire departments responded to the salon crash as did as the Wyandanch-Wheatley Heights Ambulance Corp.

“Your lives were also changed that day … just like the lives of others who were injured, and those who unfortunately perished,” state Sen. Monica Martinez (D-Brentwood) told those gathered. “What we saw that day was a day that we all came together as a community."