A bus driver for the Duluth Denfeld High School boys' basketball team was extremely drunk and driving erratically as he took the squad to Hibbing and back last week for a tournament, according to charges filed Monday.
Shawn E. Zelazny, 44, of Sturgeon Lake, Minn., was charged in St. Louis County District Court with three counts of drunken driving in connection with operating the coach bus in such a troubling manner Thursday that an adult on board persuaded the driver to pull over in Cotton, Minn., while a 911 call was placed.
A state trooper arrived and administered a preliminary breath test, which showed Zelazny's blood alcohol content was 0.218%, well over twice the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.
Zelazny remains jailed in lieu of $12,000 bail. Court records do not list an attorney for him. Zelazny's criminal history in Minnesota includes a drunken-driving conviction in Pine County in 2013.
According to the charges:
The trooper noted that Zelazny's speech was slurred and he could not give coherent answers to questions.
When she asked him whether he had been drinking before getting behind the wheel, Zelazny replied that he "probably drank too much," the complaint quoted him as saying. He was arrested and taken to a Duluth hospital, where blood was drawn for further testing.
An adult on the bus told a trooper that Zelazny hit a stop sign and drove the wrong way on a road in Hibbing, missed multiple turns and was exhibiting road rage.
