A staff member for the Minnesota House DFL Caucus was arrested earlier this week and is now facing felony charges in connection with alleged drunk driving.
Wilson Lee, 41, of North St. Paul is charged with felony counts of DWI and refusing to submit to a breath or chemical test following an Oct. 4 incident.
According to the charges:
Just after 2 a.m. Sunday, Maplewood police performed a traffic stop after witnessing a vehicle drive through a red light near County Road B and White Bear Avenue East.
The vehicle pulled into a nearby driveway on McKnight Road, and the driver was identified as Wilson. The officer noticed a strong odor of alcohol coming from Lee and observed that Lee’s eyes were red and watery, he was slurring his words, and he was wearing a blue wristband.
Lee told the officer he thought the light was yellow when he passed through and volunteered that he had nothing to drink.
When the officer mentioned smelling the odor of alcohol on Lee’s breath, Lee said “be nice, be nice, be nice.” Lee later said “I drinked a little bit, but not much at all” and that he had “a beer or two” two or three hours earlier.
Lee stumbled and lost his balance when the officer asked him to exit the vehicle. Several field sobriety tests were executed during which Lee performed “poorly.”
After a walk-and-turn test, Lee tried to go back into his vehicle. He said he wanted to retrieve his badge to show that he worked for the Minnesota House of Representatives. Lee told the officer, “so I’m a law-abiding citizen and I’m good, you know what I mean?”
A preliminary breath test (PBT) was performed and Lee registered at .197, which is over twice the legal limit of .08 in Minnesota. Lee was arrested and taken to the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center.
Lee asked to speak to an attorney and was given time to make several phone calls. While speaking to one attorney, Lee asked police what city he had been arrested in. When police told him Maplewood, Lee became angry and said he was arrested in North St. Paul and proceeded to scream and yell loudly. The attorney could be heard telling Lee to calm down but eventually hung up on Lee because he wouldn’t stop yelling.
Following his 30 minutes of attorney time, Lee refused to submit to the DMT breath test.
According to the charging document, Lee has three prior qualifying impaired driving incidents on his record, including two in 2019 and one in 2021 in Wisconsin.
Lee made his initial court appearance on Tuesday morning and was denied a public defender. Court records did not list an attorney at the time of publication.
Court and jail records show Lee posted bail and was released from custody Tuesday night. His next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 12.
The House of Representatives website lists Lee as a committee administrator for the DFL Caucus.
Alpha News reached out to the House DFL caucus leader, Zack Stephenson, for comment on the arrest and charges but did not receive a reply prior to publication.
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Minneapolis/Twin Cities Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
