A Long Island man was charged with driving while intoxicated after driving an S.U.V. through a nail salon on Friday afternoon, leaving four people dead and nine injured, according to the Suffolk County police.
The driver, Steven Schwally, 64, crashed through the front window of Hawaii Nail and Spa in Deer Park, a hamlet in the town of Babylon, N.Y., around 4:30 p.m. Friday, the police said. Three women and a man were pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical workers.
Mr. Schwally, a resident of Dix Hills, N.Y., suffered injuries that were not life-threatening and was taken to a hospital in West Islip, N.Y.
One of the other people who was injured was taken by helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital to be treated at its trauma center, according to Mark Stone, a spokesman for the Deer Park Fire Department. Others with serious injuries were taken to South Shore University Hospital and Good Samaritan University Hospital by ambulance.
The police have not released the identities of those who were injured and killed. The salon was open at the time of the crash, and Mr. Stone said it appeared that most of those hurt were inside the salon at the time.
According to a police statement released Saturday morning, Mr. Schwally was driving a 2020 Chevy Traverse. He drove through the parking lot of a strip mall before crossing Grand Boulevard and smashing through the front of the salon.
Nine agencies responded to the crash, including fire departments from surrounding towns, and there were 150 firefighters and emergency medical responders on the scene, Mr. Stone said. Authorities closed Grand Boulevard to traffic for hours after the crash.
