Charges: Driver with .226 BAC blows stop sign, broadsides elderly couple

BURNSVILLE, Minn. (KMSP) - A 59-year-old driver with a .226 BAC left a husband and wife in their 90s with potentially fatal injuries after blowing a stop sign and colliding with their car on Burnsville Parkway.

According to charges:

Police were called to the crash on Burnsville Parkway at Aldridge Avenue S. on March 20 at about 7:46 p.m.  Witnesses said a silver car was speeding into the intersection and failed to stop at a stop sign, broadsiding a station wagon. Police said the driver, Hung Thai Ngo, “appeared to be trying to zip his jacket but was having trouble operating the zipper," smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot eyes.

“Ngo had so much difficulty removing his license from his walled that the officer had to ultimately do it for him,” charges said. He told police he had two beers before driving but blew a .226 during a field sobriety test.

A 92-year-old woman in the station wagon suffered a collapsed lung, bruised heart, broken ribs and broken sternum. Her injuries carry a high risk of death and she will have lung and heart impairment if she recovers. She also developed kidney failure due to stress and medications. A 90-year-old man also in the car suffered a spinal fracture and will likely not be able to return to independent living for quite some time.

Ngo has no criminal history, aside from a ticket for parking in a handicapped zone. He now faces four counts of criminal vehicular operation.