A New York City police officer was killed Friday night while getting her nails done for a wedding when a suspected 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.
New York City police officer Emilia Rennhack, 30, was killed Friday when a suspected drunk driver crashed into a nail salon on Long Island
Suffolk County Police have arrested 64-year-old Steve Schwally for driving under the influence
Friends remembered Rennhack last weekend as a “generous” woman who married her colleague Carl Rennhack last September.
“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 condition,” 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 upset right now” 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.
Rennhack was remembered this weekend as a “generous” woman who had recently married fellow officer Carl Rennhack
The two officers were married in a ceremony last September, and Rennhack had her nails done that evening for a fellow officer’s wedding.
Various police organizations also expressed their sadness at Rennhack’s death. The Police Benevolent Association called it a “tragic loss.”
“Please join us in praying for her family, friends and coworkers,” it posted on social media, while the Det. Simonsen Foundation — created after the fatal shooting of Det. Brian Simonsen at a Queens phone store — 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 wrote 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 capture 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”
Suffolk County police say Schwally punched the back of the Long Island salon 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 of Flushing, 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 faces a charge of driving under the influence, but police expect that charge to be upgraded.
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.
An air ambulance landed on site to transport one victim to hospital.
Four people were killed and eight others injured in the crash on Friday
This isn’t the first time Schwally has been charged with driving under the influence, Newsday reports.
In April 2014, he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and his driver’s license was revoked.
Schwally’s brother Edward also claims he has more than one prior DUI, and tells how he once got his brother on probation after he refused to take a breathalyzer test in 2010 or 2011.
“It’s like my worst nightmare coming true,” Edward told the Post.
“I hate it when innocent people get hurt.”
He also admitted that his brother had a habit of “gossiping about everyone.”
“He could be mean sometimes,” Edward said of his relatives.
“I mean, I’m so madly 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 won’t see the light of day,” Edward continued. ‘He’s ready. There’s no way to get out of there.’