Murder Added to the Charges in Minnesota’s Park Tavern Tragedy

St. Louis Park, MN (KROC-AM News) - Additional charges have been filed against the man who was driving the car that crashed into a crowded patio at a Twin Cities bar and restaurant earlier this month in an incident that claimed the lives of two people and injured nine others.

A news release issued by the Hennepin County Attorney's Office on Monday says, after receiving additional evidence, the criminal complaint against 35-year-old Steven Frane Bailey has been amended to include two counts of third-degree murder connected to the deaths of Christina Folkerts and Gabe Harvey. Folkerts was working at the Park Tavern as a server, while Harvey was a healthcare worker attending an event with coworkers when they were killed.

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The new evidence cited by Hennepin County prosecutors is surveillance video from the Park Tavern that was recorded at the time of the tragedy. The news release says the video shows the BMW driven by Bailey enter the crowded parking lot at the business and then back into a parked vehicle.

Following the collision, the video shows Bailey's car pull out of the parking space and then accelerate through the parking lot, in what the Hennepin County Attorney's Office describes as an apparent attempt to flee the scene. The news release indicates the video also shows the car colliding with the rear driver's side of a black SUV that was also navigating the parking lot.

Immediately following the collision, prosecutors say the video shows Bailey did not slow down and continued to accelerate straight toward the patio. They also note there is no outlet or way to exit the parking lot from that area.

The description of the video evidence also states that Bailey accelerated "straight past a two-lane drive in the parking lot and 11 parking spaces, then plows his vehicle through a metal fence and into the patio seating area." The news release on the incident says the BMW is seen in the recording striking multiple occupied tables, hitting multiple people, and sending debris flying as he continued driving through the full length of the patio without braking.

The vehicle finally stops when it collides with several boulders and the base of a steep incline on the property.

Bailey was originally charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and an additional nine counts of criminal vehicular operation. The criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County Court indicates a preliminary breath test measured his blood-alcohol-concentration at .325, which is four times the legal limit.

Minnesota court records show Bailey has two previous drunk driving convictions. One occurred in 2014, and the other in 2015.

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