Drunken driver who plowed into Park Tavern bar patio, killing 2, pleads guilty to murder

A driver pleaded guilty Wednesday to murder charges for being extremely drunk and plowing into a crowded St. Louis Park bar patio on Labor Day weekend, killing two people and injuring a dozen others.

Six days before a trial was to begin, Steven Frane Bailey, 56, of St. Louis Park, entered guilty pleas in Hennepin County District Court to two counts of third-degree murder and three counts of criminal vehicular operation causing great bodily harm for the crash at Park Tavern that killed server Kristina Folkerts and Methodist Hospital employee Gabriel Harvey just after 8 p.m. on Sept. 1, 2024.

“Several other people were injured, some critically, and many more were traumatized by the completely unacceptable actions of one individual,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said at a news conference after the hearing.

Under the terms of a plea agreement, Bailey faces between 25 and 30 years in prison at sentencing, which is scheduled for July 28 before Judge Juan Hoyos.

The attorney’s office will ask that Bailey receive the maximum, Moriarty said.

“This was an entirely avoidable tragedy, and Mr. Bailey is being held accountable for causing it,” she said. “He will be in prison for a long time to ensure that he cannot hurt anyone else.”

The charges say Bailey’s blood-alcohol content was more than four times the legal limit to drive when he drove his BMW X5 sport utility vehicle through a metal fence and plowed through the length of the patio.

Blood samples that were taken from Bailey at Hennepin County Medical Center and analyzed by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension showed his blood-alcohol concentration was 0.335, according to an amended criminal complaint filed in court Wednesday. The legal limit to drive in Minnesota is 0.08.

Bailey had five drunken driving convictions between 1985 and 2015.

40 mph without braking

Friends and family of the victims filled the courtroom at Wednesday’s hearing. Bailey’s family members sat on the opposite side of the gallery in the front row.

Bailey has been out of jail on $500,000 bond since October and completed residential alcohol treatment.

Bailey admitted to the offenses upon questioning by his attorney Tom Sieben. He said he had been drinking vodka at his home before going to the Park Tavern for food. After hitting two vehicles in the parking lot, he accelerated and plowed through a metal fence and into the patio seating area, striking occupied tables and multiple people, only coming to a stop because of an embankment.

“Is it safe to say you were going about 40 mph?” Sieben asked.

“Correct,” Bailey said.

Upon further questioning, Bailey agreed that his actions were “eminently dangerous to others” and “evinced a depraved mind, without regard for human life” — the key elements of a third-degree murder charge.

When police arrived at the scene that night, Bailey was still in his SUV. As officers approached him they reportedly 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,” according to the charges.

He made several “spontaneous” statements such as saying when he was told they were going to perform a field sobriety test, “You don’t need to do fields. I know what I did.”

A preliminary breath test at HCMC before the warrant for a blood draw showed his blood-alcohol content was 0.325.

‘One of the most horrific videos I’ve ever seen’

Bailey initially faced criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation charges. The attorney’s office added the murder counts on Sept. 9, saying prosecutors did not yet have the surveillance video at the time of the original charges, although references to the video were included in police reports.

“Initially, before we saw the video, the assumption was this person hit the accelerator instead of the brake,” Moriarty said Wednesday. … “It’s very clear video from the Park Tavern parking lot at different angles, and it was one of the most horrific videos I’ve ever seen, unfortunately.”

Folkerts, of St. Louis Park, was a 30-year-old mother of three girls and was working as a server at “her beloved Park Tavern, where she died at the scene that night,” Moriarty said. “She was a passionate photographer who loved music, live concerts and her Starbucks. Her family described her as a free spirit who found the beauty in everyone.”

Harvey, a 30-year-old from Rosemount, was a health unit coordinator at nearby Methodist Hospital and on track to graduate from nursing school that December. He was at the restaurant with several hospital workers celebrating a colleague’s last nursing shift. He died that night at HCMC.

“He and his partner, Denzel, had recently become new homeowners,” Moriarty said. “His family described Gabe as kind, smart, hilarious and so incredibly positive.”

Among those injured were four Methodist Hospital nurses, and the amended complaint details the extent of their injuries.

Related Articles

Tegan D’Albani suffered a broken pelvis, broken legs and ribs and dislocated knees. She was unconscious and intubated for a period of time. Her injuries hinder her ability to complete daily tasks.

Laura Knutsen was celebrating her last shift as a nurse in the ICU and was set to start school to become a certified registered nurse anesthetist. She suffered head trauma and lost consciousness during transport to the hospital. Her injuries also included 11 broken ribs and a fractured clavicle, pelvis and vertebrae.

Theo Larson was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, suffered facial fractures and has lost all memory of the night of the crash. He has been unable to return to work.

The other victims suffered injuries that included bruises, cuts and abrasions.