Many members of the Injuryboard have been writing about wrong way driving incidents. Reading these posts got me thinking about an early morning a number of years ago. I was helping with a golf tournament down in southern Minnesota. In order to get there by the 6 am prep time , I had left the house at 4:30. As I got onto highway 100, I was detoured off of it one exit later. This was odd because there was no construction, but a couple of side roads I was back on my way.
That afternoon we heard what had caused the detour. Malik Sealy, a Minnesota Timberwolf, had been killed when he was hit head-on by a drunk driver, traveling the wrong way on Highway 100 in St. Louis Park. He was on his way home from a birthday party for teammate Kevin Garnett. He was just 30 years old.
We also learned that the drunk driver, Souksangouane Phengsene, had an blood alcohol level of .19. He pleaded guilty to felony criminal vehicular homicide and was sentenced to four years in prison. It is unfortunate to hear recently, he was again stopped and charged in Crystal, Minnesota after driving erratically and having a blood alcohol level of .21.
I always feel a little sense of relief that I hadn’t left the house earlier. I also as a Timberwolf season ticket fan, have always been saddened by the lost of a player I liked to watch. It’s these kind of incidents that I hope people learn from.
A founding partner with Bradshaw & Bryant, Mike Bryant has always fought to find justice for his clients—knowing that legal troubles, both personal injury and criminal, can be devastating for a family. Voted a Top 40 Personal Injury "Super Lawyer" multiple years, Mr. Bryant has also been voted one of the Top 100 Minnesota "Super Lawyers" four times.
3 Comments
Wayne Parsons
Tragic reminder of the fact that people continue to drive drunk and often it is impossible to protect ourselves from them.Very sad story!
Daniel 8791
The first four words in the title of this article instanly jarred my memory as to who was likely to be mentioned. I too was a fan of Malik Sealy, and oddly enough I have a momento of him in the form of a glistening card that changes appearance when it is tilted for view. Mr.Phengsene needs to be locked up much longer this time to simply try to protect public safety, and the State of Minnesota better do just that. The day Malik Sealy was killed, was undoubtedly one of the more sad days in the history of Minnesota sports.
Mike Bryant
Thank you for the personal note and taking the time to read my post. It really was a very sad event.
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