Jail time for repeat drunken driver who was intoxicated when he killed passenger in Maplewood crash

A repeat drunken driver without a license received jail time for being intoxicated when he lost control of his car on a Maplewood highway and killed his passenger who was visiting from California to attend a funeral.

Chue A. Yang, 59, of Maplewood was sentenced in Ramsey County District Court last week to 90 days in jail after pleading guilty in July to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the collision on Dec. 10, 2021, that killed his passenger, Tou Moua, 52, of Fresno.

Judge Timothy Carey departed from state sentencing guidelines and set aside a four-year term that would have sent Yang to prison. Carey explained in a filing that Yang displayed "amenability to probation and treatment" for chemical dependency. Also, the judge continued, Yang showed a "clear sense of remorse."

A law enforcement test of Yang's blood found his blood alcohol content soon after the crash was 0.146%, more than 1 ½ times the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.

Court records in Minnesota show that Yang also has been convicted three times for drunken driving, including in March 2019, when he crashed into a closed garage door.

The State Department of Public Safety said at the time Yang was charged that it had no record of him ever having a Minnesota driver's license.

According to the latest charges against Yang:

Pickup driver Edwin Hernandez, who was heading south on snowy Hwy. 61 near E. County Road B, told officers that he saw Yang traveling 60 to 70 miles per hour, swerving "all over the road" without his car's headlights on.

Hernandez said Yang's car jumped the raised median, went airborne and hit his pickup.

Yang and another passenger, Sammie Tao Moua, 45, of North St. Paul, were taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul with noncritical injuries. Tou Moua, however, did not survive the crash.

Sammie Moua informed officers at the scene that everyone in Yang's car was on their way home after drinking alcohol at a funeral.

Hernandez, 22, of Minneapolis complained of soreness and nausea immediately after the crash but did not require a hospital visit.