Assistant Wild Coach Accused Of Driving Drunk With Son In Car
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Wild training camp is still weeks away but the team is already dealing with some bad news.
Fridley police arrested assistant coach Darryl Sydor for allegedly driving with a blood alcohol level more than three times the state's legal limit.
But to compound the severity of his offense, Sydor was driving his 12-year-old son to a hockey game in Plymouth around 5:15 p.m. Thursday afternoon.
They were driving southbound on Highway 65 and Medtronic Parkway in Fridley when another motorist reported a vehicle driving erratically.
"[An officer] observed the vehicle making some very erratic traffic violations, making very wide turns, swerving, etc.," Fridley Lt. Mike Monsrud said.
When the arresting officer pulled Sydor over, he observed what he called the 43-year-old's "watery, bloodshot eyes, smelled a strong odor of alcohol and said Sydor was slurring his speech."
"He had him step out [of the vehicle] and began performing some field sobriety tests, which Mr. Sydor failed," Monsrud said.
Sydor initially blew a .247 on a breathalyzer at the scene of the stop. Over an hour later, when he was being processed at the Fridley police department, his blood alcohol level tested at .30.
Before he was arrested and taken to jail, Sydor told his crying son several times, "I'm sorry."
"We're very lucky we were able to intervene and get this taken care of before something more tragic happened," Monsrud said.
Sydor has battled alcohol in the past. In fact he went through treatment just a year ago and had talked about his sobriety.
He's expected to process out of jail by the weekend and may even submit to an intensive supervision program. But that could prevent him from traveling with the team.
