A New York City police officer was killed Friday night while getting her nails done for a wedding when an alleged drunk driver drove into the salon.
Emilia Rennhack, 30, stopped by Hawaii Nail and Spa that evening to prepare for another police officer’s wedding. Police say Steve Schwally, 64, drove into the store.
A witness told it CBS News they saw the alleged drunk driver swerve behind the wheel while trying to overtake other cars on the roadway where there is a 30 km/h speed limit.
He is also said to have shouted at people from his car before the crash, which killed three others and injured eight.
30-year-old New York City police officer Emilia Rennhack was killed Friday when a suspected drunk driver crashed into a nail salon on Long Island
Friends remembered Rennhack last weekend as a “generous” woman who married her colleague Carl Rennhack in September last year.
“Emilia, I can’t believe you’re gone… you were such an amazing, sweet, young woman,” a friend wrote on Facebook.
“You just got married and had your whole life ahead of you,” she said, describing the crash as “tragic” and saying Rennhack “didn’t deserve this.”
Her new husband is also in “bad shape,” an unidentified police source said told the New York Post, and noted, “His wife was his life.”
Carl’s mother also said he is “very distraught at the moment” and described her daughter-in-law as a “wonderful woman”.
“She was beautiful, she was very kind, she was very compassionate, she was very special,” Holly Rennhack said.
Suffolk County police have arrested Steve Schwally, 64, on suspicion of driving under the influence
Rennhack was remembered this weekend as a “generous” woman who had recently married fellow officer Carl Rennhack
The two officers married in a ceremony last September, and Rennhack had her nails done that evening for a fellow officer’s wedding.
Several police organizations also expressed their sadness at Rennhack’s death, with The Police Benevolent Association calling it a ‘tragic loss’.
“Please join us in praying for her family, friends and colleagues,” it said on social media, while Det. Simonsen Foundation – established in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of Det. Brian Simonsen at a phone store in Queens noted that Rennhack and her husband “were part of our family.”
“The Simonsen Foundation is deeply shocked by the tragic passing of Emilia Rennhack,” the foundation said on Facebook.
“You could always see them at our events and they always paid tribute to Brian,” the couple continued.
‘We will miss Emilia and we will NEVER forget her.
“To Carl, we love you beyond measure and we are here for you forever.”
Meanwhile, the NYPD Pulaski Foundation said it is “shocked by the tragedy of the loss of one of our members, Officer Emilia Rennhack (Kowalczyk), whose sudden departure from this world left us in deep shock and grief.
“In times like these, words often fail to describe the depth of our emotions, the enormity of our loss and the acute sense of disbelief that accompanies an unexpected farewell.”
Several police organizations also expressed their sadness over Rennhack’s death, with The Police Benevolent Association calling it a “tragic loss.”
According to Suffolk County police, Schwally rammed the back of the salon on Long Island on Friday, trapping employees and customers inside.
When firefighters arrived, they found four people already dead — including Rennhack, Jiancai Chen, 37, of Bayside, Queens; Yan Xu, 41, of Flushing, Queens; and Meizi Zhang, 50, also from Vlissingen, WABC reports.
Schwally, the alleged driver, was also found semi-conscious after the crash, arrested and taken to a local hospital. according to Newsday.
He is charged with driving under the influence, but police expect the charges will be increased.
They noted that Schwally was reportedly driving through the parking lot of a strip mall in Deer Park when he crashed into the salon’s front window around 4:30 p.m.
Video footage of the aftermath shows a chaotic scene as emergency workers arrive at the shopping center, which also houses a liquor store and a Dominican restaurant. A large police presence has cordoned off the area.
A trauma helicopter landed on the scene to transport one victim to hospital.
Four people were killed and eight others were injured in the crash on Friday
This is not the first time Schwally has been charged with driving under the influence, Newsday reports.
In April 2014, he pleaded guilty to drunk driving and had his driver’s license revoked.
Schwally’s brother Edward also claims he has had more than one DUI before. For example, he told how he once took his brother to probation after refusing to take a breathalyzer test in 2010 or 2011.
“It’s like my worst nightmare is coming true,” Edward told the Post. “I feel terrible when innocent people get hurt.”
He also admitted that his brother had a habit of “slandering everyone. He could be mean sometimes,” Edward said of his family.
“I mean, I’m terribly in love with him that this happened,” he said. ‘There’s nothing I can really do for him.
‘It’s out of anyone’s hands. It’s in the hands of the courts.
“He’s not going to see the light of day,” Edward continued. “He’s done. There’s no way around it.”
