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R.I. Police Say Man Had 0.491 Blood Alcohol Level

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The Associated Press

Published: July 22, 2008

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - State police say they arrested a man early Tuesday whose blood alcohol level was 0.491 percent - the highest ever recorded in Rhode Island for someone who wasn't dead.

Stanley Kobierowski was taken to a hospital, put in the detoxification unit and sedated, said Maj. Steven O'Donnell. He was arraigned Tuesday on charges of driving while intoxicated and resisting arrest, and he was released after promising to appear Friday at a court hearing.

"The person's lucky they survived," O'Donnell said. "There's no doubt he would have gotten killed or killed someone if he had continued on the route he was taking."

A phone listing for Kobierowski could not be found, and he did not have a lawyer in court Tuesday.

Kobierowski, 34, of North Providence, was arrested after he drove into a highway message board on Interstate 95 in Providence, O'Donnell said.

After police arrived, Kobierowski had trouble getting out of the car, then grabbed it and refused to move, forcing troopers to carry him to the breakdown lane before taking him back to their barracks, O'Donnell said.

A breath test showed blood alcohol readings of 0.489 percent, followed by 0.491, O'Donnell said, the highest readings state officials could remember for someone who didn't end up dead.

The legal limit in Rhode Island is 0.08. A level of 0.30 is classified as stupor, 0.4 is comatose and 0.5 is considered fatal, according to the health department.

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