A New York City cop was killed while getting her nails done for a wedding on Friday night when an alleged drunk driver plowed into the salon.
Emilia Rennhack, 30, stopped by Hawaii Nail and Spa in preparation for the wedding of another police officer later that night, when police say Steve Schwally, 64, drove into the storefront.
A witness told CBS News they saw the alleged drunk driver behind the wheel swerving while trying to pass other cars on the roadway where there is a 30 mph speed limit.
He was also allegedly yelling at people from his car before the crash, which left three others dead and left eight injured.
Friends remembered Rennhack over the weekend as a ‘generous’ woman who had just married fellow officer Carl Rennhack last September.
‘Emilia, I’m in disbelief that you’re gone… you were such an amazing, sweet, young woman,’ one 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 ‘did not deserve this.’
Her new husband is also in ‘bad shape,’ an unidentified police source told the New York Post, noting: ‘His wife was his life.’
Carl’s mother also said he is ‘very distraught right now,’ describing 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.
Several police organizations also expressed their sorrow for Rennhack’s death, with The Police Benevolent Association calling 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 in the aftermath of 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 beyond devastated to learn about the tragic passing of Emilia Rennhack,’ the foundation posted on Facebook.
‘You could always see them at our events and they always honored Brian,’ it continued of the couple.
‘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 ‘comes together in the shadow of a tragedy of losing one of our members Police Officer Emilia Rennhack (Kowalczyk) whose sudden departure from this world has left us in profound shock and sorrow.
‘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 goodbye.’
Suffolk County Police say Schwally slammed into 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 semiconscious after the crash and arrested and transported to a local hospital, according to Newsday.
He is facing drunk driving charges, but police say they expect those charges to be upgraded.
They noted that Schwally was allegedly speeding through the parking lot of a strip mall in Deer Park, when he crashed into the front window of the salon at around 4.30pm.
Video from the aftermath shows a chaotic scene first responders arriving at the strip mall, which also contains a liquor store and Dominican restaurant, as a massive police presence cordoned off the area.
An emergency helicopter landed at the scene to help transport one victim to the hospital.
This is not Schwally’s first time being charged with driving while intoxicated, Newsday reports.
Back in April 2014, he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and had his license suspended.
Schwally’s brother Edward also claims he has had more than one prior DUI, recounting how he once drove his brother to probation after he refused to take a Breathalyzer in 2010 or 2011.
‘It’s like my worst nightmare come true,’ Edward told the Post.
‘I feel terrible about innocent people getting hurt.’
He also admitted that his brother had a habit of ‘bad mouthing everyone.
‘He could be vicious at times,’ Edward said of his kin.
‘I mean I fell terrible for him that it ended up happening,’ he said. ‘There’s nothing I can really do for him.
‘It’s out of everybody’s hands. It’s in the hands of the courts.
‘He is not going to see the light of day,’ Edward continued. ‘He’s finished. There is no way to get out of that.’