A St. Louis Park, Minn., man who killed two people and injured several others last year when he drove drunk and rammed his car into the crowded patio at Park Tavern has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Steven Frane Bailey, 56, pleaded guilty on May 7, 2025, to two counts of third-degree murder and three counts of criminal vehicular operation involving great bodily harm and was sentenced on Monday in Hennepin County District Court.
Bailey had a BAC of .325 when the crash occurred on Sunday evening of Labor Day weekend last year. That’s over 4 times the legal limit to drive in Minnesota.
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More from St. Louis Park where a vehicle plowed into a patio crowd at Park Tavern. At least two reported to be deceased and several injured. pic.twitter.com/uEzHTFG48M— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) September 2, 2024
A statement released after the crash by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office explained that Bailey had struck a parked vehicle in the parking lot of Park Tavern before rapidly accelerating at high speed, possibly in an attempt to flee, but then clipped another vehicle entering the parking lot and continued to accelerate straight toward the occupied patio after crashing through a metal fence.
Killed were Kristina Folkerts, who was a Park Tavern server, and Gabe Harvey, who was employed at nearby Methodist hospital in St. Louis Park and had been at the bar celebrating with co-workers. Several other people were injured in the crash; initial reports indicated up to 11 were hurt.
At the time of the crash, Bailey had a history of at least five prior DWI convictions.
Bailey was initially charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and nine counts of criminal vehicular operation, but after a review of additional evidence not available at the time of the initial charging decision, the charges were amended to include two counts of third-degree murder and 12 counts of criminal vehicular operation.
Judge Juan Hoyos sentenced Bailey to two consecutive 180-month terms on the two murder convictions and three 38-month terms on the CVO counts, which will be served concurrently with the 360-month sentence.
Bailey will only be required to serve two-thirds or less of the sentence incarcerated and the remainder on supervised release.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
