CLAYTON - A Sunset Hills police officer and the bar that served her alcohol have agreed to pay a total of $2.255 million — the limit of their insurance policies — to compensate the families of four CRIME STATS

A wrongful-death lawsuit, brought by the survivor and the dead victims' families, claimed that Officer Christine L. Miller, who was off duty, drank "a high quantity" of alcohol that night at O'Leary's Restaurant & Bar, and then drove her car into oncoming traffic.

Miller is awaiting trial on manslaughter charges.

According to files in St. Louis County Circuit Court, the families of each victim killed will receive $331,375 as part of the settlement, which was filed on Feb. 22. The plaintiffs' attorneys will get a third, about $750,000.

The remainder of about $180,000 presumably will go to the sole crash survivor, Nitesh Adusumilli, 28, of Ballwin, and to his lawyer, settlement fees and other costs. The details of his settlement were not included in the court file.

The suit accused Miller, 42, of negligence based on allegations of driving drunk and driving on the wrong side of the road, among other things. Police said Miller's blood-alcohol content was 0.169 percent three hours after the crash. The threshold for drunk driving is 0.08 percent.

Miller agreed to pay a $255,000 settlement, with $45,000 going to each family. The plaintiffs' attorney, Stephen Schultz, will collect $75,000 from Miller, according to court documents.

The parents also sued the restaurant because its "employees knew Miller was intoxicated" and did not stop her from driving or call her a cab, according to the lawsuit. The restaurant is in a strip mall in the 3800 block of South Lindbergh Boulevard, about 1,000 feet from the Sunset Hills police station.

The suit claims bar workers served Miller alcohol despite her slurred speech and unsteady gait.

O'Leary's agreed to pay a total of $2 million — from which the parents will collect an immediate payment of $100,000 and $186,375 in a structured settlement for each child. The plaintiffs agreed to pay one-third to their attorneys.

Attorneys for Miller and O'Leary's did not return calls for comment Tuesday. Schultz was not available for comment.

A lawyer who specializes in such suits, James Krispin, told a reporter Tuesday that while the $2.255 million settlement may seem low considering the extraordinary loss of life, plaintiffs would have risked getting nothing if they took the case to trial under the "dram shop law." Under that law, a bar or restaurant can be held liable for injury or death caused later by an inebriated patron.

Krispin said that dram shop suits carried the highest burden of proof for the plaintiffs of any civil action. They must provide "clear and convincing" evidence that an intoxicated customer was served, while most civil cases require proof that is "more likely than not," he said.

The plaintiffs' attorneys would try to go beyond the blood-alcohol level to show jurors that Miller appeared obviously drunk in her actions, Krispin said.

"It may feel like they were undercompensated, but in reality it may have been $2 million more than they would have gotten" had Miller been drinking at home, Krispin said. "You're not going to be able to collect much anyway beyond insurance."

A settlement also avoids the uncertainly and delay of appeals, Krispin said.

The civil suit was filed June 15, six days after criminal charges were lodged against Miller. She faces four counts of first-degree involuntary manslaughter, plus one count of second-degree assault for injuries suffered by the other car's driver. Police and prosecutors have said little about the events leading up to the crash.

The Sunset Hills police put Miller on unpaid suspension after the charges were filed.

The crash occurred about 1:45 a.m. March 21, when Miller drove her Mitsubishi east in the westbound lanes of Dougherty Ferry Road and collided with a Honda that was turning right from Des Peres Road onto Dougherty Ferry.

Four passengers in the Honda were killed: Satya Subhakar Chinta, 25, of Aurora, Ill.; and Anusha Anumolu, 23, Anita Lakshmi Veerapaneni, 23, and Priya Muppavarapu, 22, all of Charleston, Ill.

All four passengers were natives of India. They had studied and worked in the U.S. for several years.

Adusumilli, the Honda's driver, suffered a head injury, fractured rib, liver trauma, lung contusion and contusions to the skull. He eventually returned to work.