Crime & Safety

Police: Lakeville Day-Care Operator Had .30 BAC and Daughter in Car

Police say Brenda Lee Lysholm, already charged with continuing to operate her day-care facility without a license, had a .30 percent blood-alcohol content and her daughter in the car when she caused a three-car accident this week.

A former Lakeville day-care operator charged with continuing to operate her facility with a suspended license had her young daughter in the car and a blood-alcohol content almost four times the legal limit when she was arrested for drunken driving, police say.  

Brenda Lee Lysholm, 45, made a first appearance Sept. 26 on two gross misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated, each of which carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine. She is also charged with careless driving, a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.   

Lysholm is accused of rear-ending a car about 6:15 p.m. Sept. 24 at a red light at Dodd Boulevard and 175th Street West. The crash pushed the second car into a third car, according to the criminal complaint.

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Lysholm had her 8-year-old daughter in the car with her when police responded to the accident, according to the complaint. An officer smelled a strong odor of alcohol coming from Lysholm’s car, and noted that her eyes were watery and bloodshot and her speech was slurred.

Lysholm admitted to the officer that she had a few drinks “earlier,” the complaint says. She was unable to provide proof of insurance for her car.

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Lysholm refused to perform field sobriety tests, but agreed to provide a breath sample for a preliminary breath test. Based on that test, she was arrested.

Almost an hour and a half later, Lysholm was given another breath test, and her blood-alcohol content measured .30 percent, almost four times the legal limit of .08 percent.

Lysholm, who operated Brenda’s Sharing &  Caring Childcare at her home in the 17600 block of Hemlock Avenue, was charged Sept. 13 with providing a residential program without a license. In July, the Minnesota Department of Human Services indefinitely suspended Lysholm’s day-care license after finding a number of violations during an unannounced visit by a Dakota County social services worker.

Lysholm told a caller on Sept. 19 that she was accepting new clients, and that she offered transportation to and from schools for the children in her care.

Lysholm remains in Dakota County custody on a $12,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in her DWI case is scheduled Oct. 18 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.


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