MINNEAPOLIS -- New drunk driving charges have been filed
against the man convicted in the drunken driving accident that
killed Malik Sealy of the Minnesota Timberwolves in May 2000.
Souksangouane Phengsene, 50, of Shakopee, was arrested in
Crystal early Sunday and was charged with felony drunk driving
Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court.
According to the court file, Phengsene was driving in an erratic
manner, weaving in and out of lanes, and driving on the curb. Court
papers say he was tested at the police station and his blood
alcohol level registered at 0.21 percent. Minnesota's legal limit
is 0.08 percent.
Crystal Police Capt. Dave Oyaas said that when an officer
spotted Phengsene swerving and stopped him, "the driver came to
almost a complete stop and then drove over a curb as he went into a
parking lot."
Phengsene was driving the wrong way on Highway 100 in St. Louis
Park when he hit Sealy's vehicle six years ago, killing the
30-year-old athlete, who was returning home after a birthday party
for teammate Kevin Garnett. Phengsene had a blood-alcohol level of
0.19 percent then, when the state's legal limit was 0.10 percent.
He pleaded guilty to felony criminal vehicular homicide and was
sentenced to four years in prison.
Phengsene was also convicted of DWI in Des Moines, Iowa, in
1997.
The new charge is a felony, rather than a misdemeanor, due to
Phengsene's prior convictions, officials with the Hennepin County
attorney's office said.
If he's convicted this time, the state's sentencing guidelines
suggest another four-year sentence due to his prior convictions,
the officials said.
Phengsene was being held in the Hennepin County jail in lieu of
$35,000 bond.
Oyaas said police were glad they stopped Phengsene before anyone
else was hurt.
"I think there's even more gratification in that, because
that's really what we're trying to do -- we're trying to prevent
basically senseless injuries and deaths at the hands of drunk
drivers," he said.