|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Investigation continues Authorities to question other driver in Sealy crash
Posted: Monday May 22, 2000 10:08 AM
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Investigators plan to interview the driver of the pickup truck that crashed into and killed Minnesota Timberwolves swingman Malik Sealy early Saturday morning. Souksangouane Phengsene, 43, convicted of drunk driving in Iowa in 1997 according to court records, was going the wrong way on Minnesota Highway 100 in St. Louis Park when his truck collided head-on with Sealy's sport utility vehicle. Sealy, 30, was pronounced dead at the scene. "We have no clue how he got on [the highway] the wrong way," Patrol Lt. Steve Lubbert said. Police said they anticipate possible language barriers when they speak today with Phengsene, who is a native of Laos. Phengsene was in satisfactory condition at Hennepin County Medical Center with head and chest injuries, a hospital spokeswoman said Sunday. It was not clear if alcohol was a factor in the crash. Cathy Clark, a spokeswoman for the State Patrol, said 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. Phengsene traveled between Des Moines and Minnesota in recent years, but in the last two months seemed to be settling in the Twin Cities, said his nephew, Venphet Phengsene. "I think he came up here to get away from his girlfriend," said Venphet Phengsene, 20, noting that the woman remains in Iowa and the pair have at least two children. Venphet Phengsene said he believed his uncle may have been working a third-shift job as a machinist. He said he didn't know where his uncle worked. Sealy's body was released to Estes Funeral Home in Minneapolis on Sunday evening. Tracy Wesley, a funeral attendant at Estes, said there are no plans for a local visitation or service. The funeral home will prepare Sealy's body, which will be flown to a funeral home in New York. Tentative services are scheduled for a visitation Friday night and a funeral Saturday in New York, according to the Bentas Funeral Home there. 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. 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 gathered in a separate room and left the restaurant just before 1 a.m. Two women 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. Besides interviewing Souksangouane Phengsene, Lubbert said investigators also will reconstruct the accident to help determine how fast both drivers were traveling and whether Phengsene had just entered the highway using the Excelsior Boulevard off ramp. Ross Corson, spokesman for the Hennepin County attorney's office, said it is too early to speculate if Phengsene will be charged in Sealy's death. He said prosecutors will review the State Patrol's accident reports. 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. While dealing with Sealy's death, members of the Timberwolves organization prepared to attend a memorial service in Golden Valley today 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.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
