Apr 1, 2008 5:57 pm US/Central
Driver In Sealy's Death Charged With DWI Again
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
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According to the criminal charges, Souksangouane Phengsene was caught speeding Sunday on Interstate 35W near 36th Street. (File)
Hennepin County
The man who killed a basketball star for the Minnesota Timberwolves back in 2000 will be back in court Wednesday on another charge of drinking and driving.
Eight years ago Souksangouane Phengsene crashed head-on into a car driven by Malik Sealy. Phengsene pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in Sealy's death, and served four years.
Police again arrested him in 2006 for driving drunk and this weekend, another arrest. This time, Phengsene is facing a stiffer penalty.
According to the criminal charges, Phengsene was caught speeding Sunday on Interstate 35W near 36th Street. He was going about 64 miles an hour in a 55 zone.
A Minnesota State Trooper followed Phengsene as he exited, noting he was swerving and hitting the curb. He also sat at the green lights on both 31st and Lake Street before quickly accelerating through the intersections.
According to court papers, after being pulled over Phengsene was noted to have bloodshot, watery eyes. The trooper said Phengsene tipped over on the seat of the truck, opened the passenger side door and fell to the ground. He couldn't stand, his breath reeked of alcoholic drinks and he wasn't wearing shoes.
Phengsene admitted that he had eight or more beers at a birthday party. Because he couldn't stand up, field sobriety tests proved impossible.
"He's a menace, he's a menace to you, he's menace to me and he's not going to change his ways," said Jon Cummings, founder of the group that calls itself, Minnesotans for Safe Driving.
Cummings leads a group that fights drunk driving. When Phengsene's crash killed Minnesota Timberwolf Malik Sealy in 2000, Cummings began following Phengsene's troubles with the law.
"When he killed Malik Sealy that was just about six blocks from my house and my son was killed the same way by a drunk driver going the wrong-way, so this hits real close to home," said Cummings.
Cummings helped pass a law in 2006 that is being used to prosecute Phengsene now. Under the law, because Phengsene killed a person in the past, he can be charged with a felony in this case and any DWI case in the future.
It's a relatively new law and Cummings hopes this high-profile case will give it traction.
"Malik shines a little light on this issue, that's good," he said.
Phengsene's breathalyzer result was more than twice the legal limit. He also had a blood test and results are still pending.
If convicted, he could serve up to seven years in prison, after a DWI where no one else was even injured.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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