On January 18, 2026, at approximately 0152 hours, law enforcement was dispatched to wrong way driver going eastbound in the westbound lanes of I-694 in Brooklyn Center, Hennepin County, Minnesota. Law enforcement later learned the wrong way vehicle crashed head on into another vehicle. The driver of the wrong way vehicle was identified as Cornelius Kowmla Tay, [DOB REDACTED] (Defendant herein). While speaking to the Defendant law enforcement noticed the Defendant had the strong smell of alcoholic beverage coming from his breath.
Law enforcement also noted the Defendant had blood shot and watery eyes and was slurring his words. The Defendant was asked when his last drink of alcohol was and the Defendant continued slurring his words and made various statements that did not make sense. Eventually the Defendant admitted to drinking a Bud Light beer an hour ago. The Defendant could not remember how many drinks he had. Law enforcement explained the instructions for the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test and the Defendant stated he understood.
When the test began, the Defendant refused to move his eyes while staring straight ahead. Law enforcement reexplained the test to the Defendant and once again, the Defendant refused to follow the instructions. The Defendant was arrested and law enforcement obtained a search warrant for the Defendant’s blood. At 0518 hours, blood was drawn from the Defendant. Lab results are pending. The driver of the vehicle hit by the Defendant’s vehicle was identified as J. J. J. J. Went to North Memorial Hospital.
He was diagnosed with multiple injuries including a left acetabular (hip socket) fracture, left orbital floor (bottom of eye socket) fracture and right fifth metacarpal fracture. The Defendant has two DWI aggravating factors. The Defendant was convicted of Driving While Impaired in court file number 02-CR-23-2853. Additionally, the Defendant has a prior impaired driving-related loss of license under MN Statute 169A.52 from an incident date of 03/16/2025. The State is requesting a warrant due to public safety concerns.
The Defendant was not taken into custody after the incident due to medical treatment.
