FRONTENAC • A man who police say was street racing on Lindbergh Boulevard when he crashed into a woman’s SUV Friday night was distraught when he heard that she died over the weekend, according to his attorney.
“He is devastated to learn the woman has passed away,” said Dan Diemer, attorney for Haven A. Sooter. Diemer said his client suffered a broken arm and a concussion in the crash, but declined to comment further. Sooter could not be reached.
Frontenac police said they planned to seek involuntary manslaughter and driving while intoxicated charges against Sooter, 39, of Ladue, and Scott A. Bailey, 44, a lawyer in Clayton, who authorities say was racing Sooter Friday night.
Both Sooter’s BMW and Bailey’s Mustang struck an SUV driven by Kathleen “Kay” Koutroubis, 73, fatally injuring her, police say.
Bailey was booked that night, but neither man has been charged. Police say they are waiting for the results of toxicology and accident reconstruction reports.
Diemer declined to say more until he could meet with Sooter, which he said he planned to do next week.
Reached Wednesday, Bailey also declined to comment, saying he planned to meet with an attorney. He asked a reporter to call back later to get information about the attorney, but couldn’t be reached later in the day.
Fatal crash
Police say Sooter and Bailey were racing south on Lindbergh about 9:15 p.m. when Sooter’s BMW struck Koutroubis’ SUV from behind near Chaminade College Preparatory School. Her vehicle veered into the next lane, where it was struck by Bailey’s Mustang, police said.
Koutroubis was conscious after the crash, police said. But she was taken to a hospital complaining of pain in her abdomen, and died over the weekend of internal injuries, police said.
Neither man was cited, but Bailey was booked and a mug shot was taken. Sooter was taken to a hospital.
Bailey filed suit Monday to fight revocation of his license for refusing to submit to a breath or blood test for intoxication after the crash. Missouri law calls for a driver’s license to be revoked if the driver is suspected of drunken driving and refuses a blood or breath test.
In his suit, Bailey claims he was not lawfully arrested and says that the arresting officer didn’t have reasonable grounds to believe Bailey was driving while intoxicated. Bailey also denies that he refused to submit to a chemical test.
Bailey lives in unincorporated St. Louis County and owns a Clayton law firm where he specializes in car accident and wrongful death cases, among other areas of law. The website for his law office, iwasinjuredstl.com, stopped working Wednesday.
Diemer, Sooter’s attorney, said his client was released from the hospital Saturday.
Sooter had been set to appear in court Monday on claims that he refused to leave an area casino, but a continuance pushed the date to Aug. 15.
In that case, Sooter was charged with trespassing after he was asked to leave the Ameristar Casino St. Charles for being “overly intoxicated” in May, according to court documents.
He refused requests from casino security and the Missouri Highway Patrol that he leave, 11and cursed at officials, the documents say.
Friends described Koutroubis as a devoted grandmother, or “Ya Ya,” who often helped her friends and community.
Friends say Koutroubis was driving home from feeding a home-bound friend and dropping off a bridal shower present when she was struck. Koutroubis was a member of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in the Central West End, where her funeral was Wednesday morning.
Ashley Jost • 314-340-8169
@ajost on Twitter
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