A newly-elected member of the Hastings school board was arrested last week for drunk driving.
Mark Allen Zuzek, 58, was pulled over Nov. 17 around 7:50 a.m. when Woodbury police received a report of a vehicle running a stop sign and “swerving all over the road,” according to a criminal complaint.
Police located the suspect vehicle in the area of Valley Creek Road and Weir Drive and observed it “drift over the lane lines several times,” the complaint says.
When officers stopped the vehicle, Zuzek smelled of alcohol, had watery eyes and slurred speech, and was slow to respond to questions, according to the complaint.
The complaint says he admitted to having two alcoholic beverages the night before and agreed to perform field sobriety tests, which he “performed poorly.”
He was placed under arrest and transported to the Woodbury Police Department. Around 8:45 a.m., he registered a blood alcohol concentration of .18, according to the complaint.
Zuzek has been charged with two DWI counts.
Just two weeks ago, Zuzek won a special election to the Hastings school board, defeating Todd Kullman and Pam Onnen. His candidacy was endorsed by Education Minnesota, the state’s teachers union.
“To be clear, Critical Race Theory is not taught in Hastings Public Schools, and it would surprise me to learn that CRT is being taught in any K-12 setting anywhere,” Zuzek states on his campaign website. “There is an attempt to equate the teaching of accurate American history with Critical Race Theory. This is not an appropriate endeavor.”
Zuzek previously served as the superintendent of ISD 917, the principal of Hastings Middle School, and as an assistant principal at South Saint Paul High School.
He did not respond to a request for comment.
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
