RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — Steven Schwally, the suspect in a deadly crash on Long Island earlier this summer, was arraigned on a 38-count indictment on Thursday and prosecutors alleged that he was driving 78 mph with a blood alcohol content of 0.17% at the time of the collision.
The suspect is accused of slamming his 2020 Chevy Traverse into Hawaii Nail & Spa in Deer Park on the afternoon of June 28, a collision that left the nail salon owner, two employees and off-duty NYPD officer Emilia Rennhack dead. Nine others were injured, including a 12-year-old girl.
“We have 28 felony charges, nine misdemeanor charges and the one traffic infraction, which is the speeding,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said Thursday.
The top charges against Schwally, the 64-year-old from Dix Hills, are four counts of second-degree murder.
Assistant District Attorney Alexander Bopp told the judge that Schwally, who pleaded not guilty, had no remorse regarding the victims of the crash. While pinned in his SUV after the collision, Schwally is accused of screaming: “Get me out of here! I haven’t broken any laws. I’m a Marine.”
“That vehicle, that 5,000 pound vehicle, went through the front facade of that building at 78 miles an hour,” Tierney said. “Eyewitnesses described it as though a bomb went off.”
Officials found two empty bottles of Montebello Long Island iced tea cocktail in Schwally’s SUV.
Following the arraignment, Tierney addressed several of the victims and deceased victims’ families who were in attendance.
“This was a conscious choice by this defendant to both drive while intoxicated and then operate that motor vehicle with depraved indifference to human life,” Tierney said.
State Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro sent Schwally back to county jail without bail, for reasons of his lack of permanent address and potential life sentence.
Schwally is being represented by Legal Aid Society defense attorneys Matthew Hereth and Melissa Kanas.