Charges: Coon Rapids Man Drove Drunk With 2 Kids In Car

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 38-year-old Coon Rapids man is accused of driving drunk with two small kids in his car and providing false information to police, according to charges filed in Anoka County Court.

Fester Sayonkon was charged with first-degree driving while impaired in connection with the incident, which happened Sunday in Blaine.

According to the charges, a Blaine police officer was on patrol just before 1 a.m. Sunday in the area of Ulysses Street and 121 Avenue NE when two vehicles passed his car. The officer followed the cars and watched a blue Mercedes roll through the intersection of 125 Avenue and Ulysses. The Mercedes then went southbound on Highway 65 and made several lane changes for no reason.

The complaint states the car made a lane change at 109 Avenue and stopped, and its center brake light was not working. An officer stopped the vehicle, and the driver identified himself to the officer as 88-year-old Weeas Cheas. The officer noted he didn't look nearly that old, and driver provided the officer with paperwork showing he was 38 years old.

According to the complaint, the officer couldn't find a driver's license in that name. Paperwork showed the owner was 50-year-old Gideon Wesseh Chea. When the officer returned to the car, the driver told him he had lied and implied he was Chea, and further said he had been drinking. The officer could smell alcohol on him and also saw two small children, 3 to 6 years old, in the back seat with no seatbelt restraints or child booster seats.

The complaint states Sayonkon got out of the vehicle to perform a field sobriety test, which he failed. A preliminary breath test showed he had a blood alcohol level of .12. He was arrested and booked into the Anoka County Jail for DWI.

A review of Sayonkon's history shows previous DWI convictions in March 2009 and February 2014.