mobanmarketDEER PARK, NY — Tragedy struck Long Island on Friday afternoon when a drunk driver plowed his SUV through Hawaii Nail & Spa in Deer Park, killing 4 unsuspecting people and hospitalizing nine others with serious injuries, police said.
On Monday night, the community will gather to honor those lost in the mass casualty, including NYPD officer Emilia Rennhack, 30, of Deer Park, Jiancai Chen, 37, of Bayside, Queens, Yan Xu, 41, of Flushing, Queens, and Meizi Zhang, 50, of Flushing, Queens — the four people who were killed when the Chevrolet Traverse crashed into the nail salon.
Meanwhile, survivors treated at area hospitals for serious but not life-threatening injuries include 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, Carol Garcia, 23, of Bay Shore, Toni Saccente, 32, of West Islip, Krystal Rodriguez, 37, of Bay Shore, Nicole Saccente, 55, from Cape Coral, Florida, and a 12-year-old girl whose identity is being withheld, police said.
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The candlelit vigil will take place at the site of the tragedy —the now-demolished nail salon at 794 Grand Boulevard in Deer Park. Organizers are asking attendees to bring a candle. Since the crash, mourners have been heading tearfully in a steady stream to the site, bringing flowers, photographs and memories.
The vigil will serve as one small step in the long road to healing.
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“Let us come together in strength and solidarity to support the families and friends who are grieving, and to reaffirm our commitment to preventing such senseless tragedies in the future,” Supervisor Rich Schaffer told Patch.
According to Suffolk County police, Steven Schwally, 64, of Dix Hills drove the SUV at high speed through the parking lot in front of 421 Commack Road, crossed over Grand Boulevard and continued through the parking lot of 794 Grand Boulevard, where he crashed the vehicle through the front window of the nail salon.
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Schwally was arrested and charged with DWI, police said. He was transported 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, spoke with Patch.
“It was a chaotic scene. 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 said.
The first units to arrive at the scene found a “mass casualty incident” and called for mutual aid to respond with appropriate resources, Stone said. “Our guys went to work, doing the job they do,” he said.
A total of nine departments and about 150 firefighters and EMS first responders were at the scene for hours, he said.
Services for Rennhack are scheduled for July 6.
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