Deadly Park Tavern crash driver was 4 times over the legal limit: Charges
Park Tavern reopening Wednesday; suspect due in court
The Park Tavern in St. Louis Park is set to reopen at noon on Wednesday, days after an alleged drunk driver plowed through the patio, killing two people and injuring several others. The suspect, Steven Bailey, is due in court Wednesday afternoon after being charged on Tuesday.
ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. (FOX 9) - The man behind the wheel of the vehicle that plowed into the patio space at Park Tavern in St. Louis Park over the weekend, leaving two people dead, was driving four times over the alcohol limit, prosecutors said Tuesday.
What we know
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced Tuesday her office is filing charges against Steven Frane Bailey, 56, for criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation in the deadly crash at the restaurant along Louisana Avenue on Sunday night.
Police said surveillance video showed Bailey driving his vehicle into the parking lot just after 8 p.m. According to the complaint, Bailey tried to back into a parking spot but struck another car. Bailey then pulled out of the spot and accelerated into the patio area outside the restaurant.
Moriarty says Bailey took a breath test after the crash, testing four times the legal limit with a blood-alcohol content [BAC] of 0.325.
The crash left one victim, server Kristina Folkerts, pinned beneath the vehicle. Prosecutors say police lifted the vehicle off of her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
What did Bailey say?
According to the complaint, officers heard Bailey on the phone saying he "hit the gas instead of the brake and went right through a thing… I'm probably going to jail."
When told he was being arrested, Bailey said: "You got to be kidding me" and "my life's pretty much f---ed now, isn't it?
Context
No matter which way you look at it, 0.325 is a dangerously high alcohol level.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, a blood-alcohol level between 0.30 and 0.40 puts you at risk for alcohol poisoning, and losing consciousness. The University of Toledo lists 0.31 and above as the range for a potential coma.
Background
Court records show Bailey has five previous drunk driving convictions on his driving record.
- Bailey was arrested in Sept. 1985 for driving under the influence in Wisconsin. Bailey was just 17 years old at the time.
- Bailey was arrested again in Dec. 1992 for driving under the influence in Wabasha County.
- His third arrest came in Nov. 1997 in Hennepin County.
- In 2013, Bailey was arrested for drunk driving in Waseca. He ultimately pleaded guilty in the case.
- A year later, and just a few months after pleading guilty in the first case, Bailey was arrested in Plymouth, Minn. for drunk driving, driving with a canceled license, and careless driving. He ultimately pleaded guilty to the DWI charge while the other counts were dismissed.
The charging document also lists Bailey as living at an address on west Lake Street, less than a mile away from Park Tavern.
Who are the victims?
FOX 9 has learned that Park Tavern server Kristina Folkerts and Methodist Hospital worker Gabe Harvey were the two people who were killed in the crash.
Before the crash, FOX 9 had previously shared Folkerts' story, after she started working at Park Tavern, following in the footsteps of her mother – who was also a beloved server at the tavern for decades before she passed away in 2008. After becoming a mother herself, Folkerts had decided to return to the tavern for a job.
Harvey was out with coworkers when police say Bailey's vehicle crashed into the patio space outside Park Tavern.
In total, the criminal complaint lists 11 victims including Folkerts and Harvey.
According to the charges, the surviving victims suffered:
- Victim 3 suffered broken legs, a broken pelvis, broken ribs, and dislocated knees.
- Victim 4 suffered head trauma and lost consciousness.
- Victim 5 suffered head trauma, facial lacerations, and complete loss of memory.
- Victim 6 had road rash injuries, chest pain, bruising, and torn skin.
- Victim 7 had multiple bruises.
- Victim 8 had a minor bruise to her knee
- Victim 9 had a minor bruise to his back.
- Victims 10 and 11 had what police say were minor injuries after being hit by an object during the crash.
Four other victims have been identified by Health Partners as other victims who worked at Methodist Hospital. They are: Theo Larson, Tegan D’Albani, Laura Knutsen and Eric Schefers.
The City of St. Louis Park is asking others who were injured in the crash to contact police.
How to help victims
Online fundraisers have been created to support the families of both Folkerts and Harvey.
Other GoFundMe pages have been set up to help some of the others injured in the crash.
A memorial for all the victims of the crash has also been erected outside Park Tavern.
Park Tavern reopening Wednesday
Park Tavern announced on Tuesday it would reopen to the public at noon on Wednesday. The establishment has been closed since the fatal crash.