What Happened
Steven Schwally, 66, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison on Wednesday for driving drunk into the Hawaii Nail Salon in a Deer Park strip mall in Summer 2024, killing four people and injuring nine others — and then gave a photographer the middle finger in the very courtroom where victims’ families had just delivered tearful impact statements, according to NBC New York.
Schwally was captured on surveillance video driving his SUV into the Hawaii Nail Salon at a high rate of speed. Prosecutors alleged he had been driving drunk around Deer Park before striking the salon at nearly 78 mph, per NBC New York’s report. The collision killed four people, among them NYPD Officer Emilia Rennhack, and left nine others injured.
At the sentencing hearing, victim impact statements laid bare the human cost of the crash. Carl Rennhack, Officer Emilia Rennhack’s husband, addressed the court about losing his best friend: “Knowing he will die behind bars is the only comfort we have.” Wen Jun Chen, who co-owned the Hawaii Nail Salon with her husband Jincai Chen, was seriously injured in the crash — she ultimately lost her spleen and suffered severe liver damage. Her husband was killed. Unable to speak for herself, she had an ADA read her written statement aloud: “No verdict can bring my husband back. No amount of money can restore my children’s father or erase what happened. But the law can do something profoundly important: It can recognize responsibility, affirm the value of a human life, and ensure that actions have consequences.”
While those statements were being delivered, NBC New York reports that Schwally did not appear to look in the direction of the victims’ families — behavior consistent with his conduct throughout the trial, during which he was absent for most of the proceedings, having chosen not to attend.
Schwally’s attorney, Christopher Cassar, read a statement from his client in which Schwally apologized to the victims, described suffering a heart attack while in jail, and pleaded for a lesser sentence. At one point, Schwally turned to face the families and said, “I’m so sorry and I hope you can all forgive me.” Moments later, he was photographed giving a photographer the middle finger. When confronted about the gesture, Cassar said: “I didn’t see that, I have no idea.”
Judge Richard Ambro was unmoved. Imposing the maximum sentence — 25 years to life — he told Schwally: “You were and still are depravedly indifferent. I only regret the sentences I’m about to impose can’t be longer.” Allen Bode, chief assistant to the Suffolk County district attorney, said outside court: “He’s sorry for himself. Up until the very end he even made a lewd gesture in court — he’s unrepentant.”
Location & Road Context
The Hawaii Nail Salon is located inside a Deer Park strip mall on Long Island. Deer Park, a hamlet in the Town of Babylon in Suffolk County, sits along busy commercial corridors that see significant daily traffic. Strip mall storefronts along such corridors carry an inherent vulnerability to out-of-control vehicles, a risk this crash made catastrophically clear. For more on accidents in Deer Park and surrounding communities, Long Island Traffic maintains ongoing coverage of incidents throughout the region.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
Schwally was convicted on all 30 counts filed against him, including murder, assault, and vehicular homicide. He was 66 years old at the time of sentencing. As noted by NBC New York, Schwally was largely absent from his own trial, choosing not to attend the majority of proceedings. Judge Richard Ambro of Suffolk County sentenced him to the maximum term allowed: 25 years to life in prison. Given Schwally’s age, the Suffolk County DA’s office noted that the sentence effectively means he will die in prison — a point Carl Rennhack called the family’s only comfort.
What This DWI Charge Means
Under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law §1192, impaired and intoxicated driving is prosecuted across several tiers. A DWAI (Driving While Ability Impaired) charge applies when a driver’s ability is impaired by alcohol, even with a BAC below 0.08. A standard DWI charge kicks in at a BAC of 0.08 or higher, while Aggravated DWI — the most serious administrative tier — applies at a BAC of 0.18 or above. Penalties scale accordingly: fines range from hundreds to thousands of dollars, and convictions carry mandatory license suspension or revocation, possible jail time, and required ignition interlock device installation on any vehicle the offender operates or owns. Repeat offenders face significantly steeper consequences, including felony charges.
When a DWI results in death, New York law elevates the charges substantially. Prosecutors in this case charged Schwally with murder — not merely vehicular manslaughter — reflecting the depraved indifference standard that Judge Ambro explicitly invoked at sentencing. Drivers who refuse a chemical test in New York also face immediate administrative consequences: an automatic one-year license revocation and a $500 civil penalty, independent of any criminal proceeding. Refusing a test can also be used as evidence of consciousness of guilt in court.
Case Status & Updates
Steven Schwally has been convicted and sentenced. It bears noting that throughout this process — as with all criminal proceedings — the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law; in this case, a jury returned guilty verdicts on all 30 counts following a full trial. Long Island Traffic tracks DWI cases and serious accident cases across Long Island through the courts, updating each report as arraignment outcomes, pleas, verdicts, and sentencing become part of the public record. This case is now closed at the trial court level with the maximum sentence imposed; any appeal proceedings will be reported as they develop.