Shawn Zelazny enters Norgaard plea in drunken bus driving case

DULUTH, Minn. -- A Sturgeon Lake man accused of driving drunk while operating a bus full of Duluth high school student-athletes and coaching staff has entered a Norgaard plea.

Shawn Zelazny's plea means he believes the facts of the case indicate his guilt, but he is unable to remember the circumstances of the crime.

Zelazny was charged in January with two counts of second-degree driving while impaired, and a count of driving a commercial motor vehicle while impaired.

Someone onboard a bus carrying the Denfeld High School boys' basketball team texted 911 Dec. 30, 2021, to say the driver was "acting erratic" and "saying things that weren't right." When troopers pulled the bus over, they said the driver -- Zelazny -- told them he "probably drank too much" before driving the team to and from a tournament in Hibbing. 

A preliminary breath test put Zelazny's blood alcohol content at .218.

Zelazny's sentencing is set for Oct. 24.