Charges filed in Park Tavern fatal crash

Published: Sep 03, 2024 Duration: 00:05:22 Category: News & Politics

Tags : WCCO 4 News

Trending searches: park tavern accident

on Sunday evening September 1st officers were dispatched to Park Tavern in St Louis Park on a report of a motor vehicle driving through the patio and striking multiple patrons upon arrival officers observed a gray BMW up against large Boulders at the base of a hill on the south side of the patio based on officer observation and witness statements the operator of the vehicle Steven FR Bailey had driven through the metal fence surrounding the Park Tavern patio and had struck several people there are a total of 11 victims in this incident two victims Christina fartz and Gabe Harvey tragically lost their lives and several other victims are struggling with severe injuries when when police arrived Mr Bailey the driver of the vehicle was still inside and was the sole occupant he made statements acknowledging that he was under the influence and a preliminary breath test showed that he was more than four times the legal limit it was 325 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 all of this was completely preventable this did not have to happen 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 of his vehicle while highly intoxicated and dramatically alter the lives of so many people my heart is with Christina's three children who will now have to grow grow up without their mother and her family and friends who will miss her forever my heart is with gab's family partner and loved ones and my heart is with all the staff members and patrons at Park Tavern who will have the traumatic image of a vehicle barreling through the patio and striking so many folks forever seared into their memory they deserved better and it's a shame that one person's Choice has left indelible scars on so many lives nothing can change what happened on Sunday night but we can and will hold people accountable when they choose to get behind the wheel while intoxicated and kill and injured people and so it is with that in mind that we announce the following charges two counts of criminal vehicular homicide nine counts of criminal vehicular operation the number of charges may rise if more victims are located or come forward I want to thank all of the officers from the various departments that quickly responded to this tragedy and prevented an even worse outcome from happening thank you to all of the First Responders Who provided critical Medical Aid that undoubtedly saved lives that night but above else I want to extend my deepest heartfelt condolences to the families of Christina and Gabe who tragically lost their lives because someone made a selfish decision I would say the responsibility of the Department of Public Safety um having a license is a privilege um and the Department of Public Safety sets the standards for when a person gets their license back but the bottom line is whether he had a license or not he made the decision to get into a car after drinking and I would say about those prior this you know most people who get charged with a DWI don't come back it's a wakeup call and so someone who has prior DWIs who still doesn't make a plan uh if he's going to drink to get home safely uh is hugely problematic regardless of whether he had a license or not the state patrol arrived at the scene and they are doing accident reconstruction so I would expect them to have information on that I would expect to have more information about that in the coming weeks one thing that we do know is that he rapidly accelerated and there didn't seem to be any application of any breaks I do not um I do know that there were children present uh which is one of the reasons why we are going to file a Blakely notice that would give us the option of a greater sentence I've been told that there were children who moved off the patio to go bowling just before this happened they would call the St Louis Park Police Department and that's true I there we we had nine victims I mean some people were seriously injured and taken to henpen Medical Center if there is anybody else who has injuries that just didn't reported in the chaos that followed they should contact uh the St Louis Park Police Department

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