By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis – The Missouri State Highway Patrol says an off-duty University City policeman was drunk when he collided with an on-duty Bridgeton officer last week.
Both officers Stephen Bastean and Scott Armstrong died in the head-on crash early last Wednesday on Highway 370.
The St. Louis County medical examiner says Bastean's blood alcohol level was .188. That's more than twice the legal limit in Missouri.
Highway Patrol Corporal Al Nothum says neither driver had much time to get out of the way.
"A vehicle traveling 75 miles per hour is going approximately 100 feet per second," Nothum said. "So between them, they're closing at about 200 feet per second. That doesn't give you a lot of time to react. Hence there was no physical evidence on the roadway; there were no pre-impact skid marks."
Nothum says Bastean went to several bars with a friend the evening before the accident.
Bastean made a U-turn, and was heading east in the westbound lanes of Highway 370.