Prosecutors Allege the Driver Drank 18 Beers Before the Tragic Nail Salon Crash on Long Island

According to CNN affiliate WABC, the driver who allegedly crashed his SUV into a Long Island nail shop on Friday, killing four people and wounding nine more, claimed investigators he had taken 18 beers the night before the tragedy.

Steven Schwally, 64, was inebriated when he crashed his SUV into Hawaii Nail & Spa. According to a court document, when police arrived at the scene of the accident, first responders characterized Schwally as smelling of alcohol, with bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.

Schwally, of nearby Dix Hills, was arraigned Monday in Suffolk County Court, where he pled not guilty to a DWI charge and was ordered held on $1 million cash or $2 million bond, according to online court records.

Schwally drank 18 beers before stopping at 4 a.m. Friday, according to a prosecutor at the arraignment, WABC reported.

According to online court documents, Schwally is represented by the Suffolk County Legal Aid Society, which declined to comment.

The four people killed at the nail salon were Jiancai Chen, 37, Yan Xu, 41, Meizi Zhang, 50, and Emilia Rennhack, 30, according to Suffolk County police.

Rennhack, an off-duty New York City Police Department officer, was in the salon “getting her nails done for a colleague’s wedding that night,” according to law enforcement crowdsourcing website Fund the First, which was created to gather funds for her family.

Chen’s nephew, Vincent Zheng, told CNN that his uncle was the manager at Hawaii Nail & Spa and was working that day alongside colleagues Xu and Zhang.

Chen leaves behind two children and his wife, who was also injured in the accident, according to a GoFundMe page started by his nephew.