A total of 9 people were injured (up from 4).
Steven Frane Bailey, 56, of St. Louis Park, was charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and nine counts of criminal vehicular operation
The crash
killed 30-year-old employee Kristina Marie Folkerts, of St. Louis Park, and customer Gabriel Quinn Harvey, of Rosemount, a 30-year-old health unit coordinator at nearby Methodist Hospital and nursing school student, who was there with others celebrating a colleague’s departure.
Bailey remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail. He is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday afternoon.
The charges say that law enforcement administered a preliminary breath test at HCMC, and it measured his blood alcohol content at 0.325%, more than four times the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.
“What was supposed to be the end of a wonderful holiday weekend turned into a horrific tragedy that is made even worse by the fact that this was totally preventable,” County Attorney Mary Moriarty said at a news conference after the charges were filed. “In a time where we have more options than ever to ensure a safe ride home, Mr. Bailey made the choice to get behind the wheel while highly intoxicated and dramatically altered the lives of so many people.”
Moriarty did not know how fast the car was going in the lot and did not know how many people were on the patio at the time of the crash. But she said kids were present, and a number of them left the patio shortly before the crash. Although none were injured, the presence of children is an aggravating factor the prosecution will cite to push for a longer sentence for Bailey if he is convicted.
Bailey was seen on surveillance video pulling into the tavern parking lot and driving past an open spot. He then hit a parked car when he tried to back into that spot, pulled out and then accelerated toward the patio. He plowed through the metal fence into the patio seating area and hit several people. His vehicle came to a stop when he hit some boulders. He was traveling anywhere from 30 to 45 miles per hour while going “all the way through the patio area.”
Folkerts (the server), was pinned under the vehicle. Officers lifted the vehicle off her, but she died at the scene despite life-saving efforts.
Harvey was pronounced dead at HCMC.
Officers approached Bailey’s SUV and heard him on the phone saying, “I hit the gas instead of the brake and went right through a thing” and “I’m probably going to jail.”
The officers detected that Bailey was calm but slow to respond to directions. His speech was slurred, and his eyes were bloodshot and watery. Once out of the SUV, he fell to his knees. When told he was going to undergo field sobriety tests, he said, “You don’t need to do fields. I know what I did.”
A statement from HealthPartners, which operates Methodist Hospital, said four nurses were injured. Various online fundraising campaigns have identified three of the victims who gathered at Park Tavern:
Laura Knutsen was being celebrated ahead of starting her studies this week at St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minn., to be a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist,
the campaign on her behalf posted.
Knutsen has extensive fractures and numerous traumatic injuries and was being treated at HCMC, the posting read.
Tegan D’Albani, 34, was being treated for injuries as serious as Knutsen’s and also is at HCMC,
her supporters noted. The charges listed her injuries as
broken legs, pelvis, ribs and dislocated knees.
Theo Larson “has been a longtime employee of the Methodist Hospital ICU starting as a nursing assistant there and now has been a nurse for many years,”
the campaign on his behalf read. Larson was admitted to North Memorial Health Hospital with
multiple skull, facial fractures and orbital fractures, the posting read. The criminal complaint added that he has
“complete memory loss.”
An HCMC spokeswoman said Tuesday afternoon that
Knutsen and D’Albani were in serious condition. Larson was in fair condition, a hospital spokesman said.
Six additional victims suffered injuries including bruises and road rash.
Driver’s criminal history behind the wheel
Minnesota court records show Bailey has at least two previous drunken-driving convictions.
In 2014, he was found guilty of misdemeanor fourth-degree drunken driving after being stopped by police in Waseca for failing to signal a turn. Law enforcement measured his blood alcohol content at the time at 0.16%, twice the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.
He was convicted again in 2015 for gross misdemeanor third-degree drunken driving after a police officer in Plymouth did a random registration check and saw that Bailey’s driving privileges were canceled because of the previous drunken-driving offense.
A preliminary breath test administered to Bailey about 90 minutes after he was stopped measured his blood alcohol content at 0.08%, the minimum needed to allege intoxication.
Park Tavern, located at 3401 S. Louisiana Avenue, has been closed since the crash. The owner said he expects to reopen Wednesday. The tavern plans to hold a a memorial and fundraiser for crash victims at a later date, the owner said. It also plans to plant a tree in memory of the crash victims.
The St. Louis Park Police Department believes more people were hurt in the crash. Anyone injured who hasn’t yet been interviewed can call the department at (952) 924-2165. Leave your full name, contact information, and connection to the incident so an investigator can call you. Anyone who witnessed any part of the incident and captured video or photos is asked to submit them online to police at
https://bit.ly/parktavernvehicleincident.
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