Driver who struck Sealy was convicted of drunken driving in Iowa

Sunday, May 21, 2000 | 2:57 a.m.

Authorities believe Souksangouane Phengsene, 43, was driving the wrong way on Minnesota Highway 100 in St. Louis Park early Saturday morning when his truck collided head-on with Sealy's sport utility vehicle. Sealy, 30, was dead at the scene.

Phengsene, who recently moved to Minnesota from Des Moines, Iowa, was in satisfactory condition at Hennepin County Medical Center with head and chest injuries, a hospital spokeswoman said Sunday.

It was not clear Sunday if alcohol was a factor in the crash. Cathy Clark, a spokeswoman for the State Patrol, said on Saturday that a paramedic on the scene told troopers he smelled alcohol on Phengsene.

Blood samples were taken from both drivers and will be tested to determine if alcohol was in either driver's system.

Clark said the investigation will likely take several weeks.

The Des Moines Register reported Sunday that Phengsene was charged with drunken driving in Des Moines in June 1997. Court records show that Phengsene pleaded guilty or was found guilty of the charge about two months later. It was not immediately known what penalty might have been imposed. He was also arrested at the time for failing to wear a seat belt and running a stop sign.

Sealy was returning home from a night out celebrating teammate Kevin Garnett's 24th birthday. The crash caved in the driver's side of Sealy's Range Rover, and he died of multiple head and chest injuries.

While dealing with Sealy's death, members of the Timberwolves organization prepared to attend a memorial service in Golden Valley on Monday for Bill Musselman, the franchise's first coach. He died May 5 in Rochester at age 59, a month after being diagnosed with bone marrow cancer.

Sealy, Garnett and at least one other player had dinner at the Monte Carlo Bar & Cafe in downtown Minneapolis late Friday night. Manager Tony Rimarcik said a group of six or seven people had gathered in a separate room and left the restaurant just before 1 a.m.

Two women who were working at the nearby Deja Vu nightclub Friday night and early Saturday morning told the Star Tribune that Sealy, Garnett and two or three other men had been at the club, which does not serve alcohol. One of the women said the men left around 3:30 a.m. The newspaper did not name the women.

A thigh-high median separates the northbound and southbound lanes of Highway 100 in St. Louis Park, a suburb just west of Minneapolis. State Patrol Cmdr. Al Smith said that means Phengsene entered the highway going in the wrong direction. Authorities weren't sure how long he was going in the wrong direction.

Neither Sealy nor Phengsene was wearing a seat belt when they crashed about 4 a.m. While an airbag deployed in Phengsene's truck, Sealy's vehicle didn't have an airbag.