An Oregon man has the dubious honor of possibly setting a new record for the state’s highest-ever blood alcohol level following a hit-and-run crash.
According to the Warm Springs Police Department, the DUI suspect had a blood alcohol content of 0.778 per cent, which is more than nines time Oregon’s legal limit of 0.08 per cent.
The incident began unfolding at 1pm on Friday, when police in Madras, Oregon – a city located 125 miles away from Portland – reported a hit-and-crash near the Plateau Travel Plaza on Northwest Cherry Lane.
A suspected DUI driver in Oregon was found to have a blood alcohol content level of 0.778, or nine time the legal limit, which might be the state’s new record
According to the Madras police, the suspect’s vehicle was reported to be traveling towards Warm Springs.
Officers tracked down the vehicle in connection with the hit-and-run and pulled it over.
‘As the officers made contact with the driver, they observed the driver to be HIGHLY intoxicated,’ Warm Springs police wrote in a Facebook post. ‘The driver then fled and led officers on a short pursuit.’
The car lost control and crashed into a concrete barrier off the westbound lane, approximately half a mile from the location of the traffic stop.
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The driver was taken to a local hospital for a checkup. A blood sample drawn from him was tested and showed his blood alcohol level was an unprecedented 0.778 per cent.
According to the police, the suspect was driving on a suspended license stemming from a misdemeanor DUI conviction. Criminal charges against him are pending.
In December 2007, 42-year-old Terri Comer, also from Oregon, was arrested after being found comatose in her car with a 0.72 blood alcohol level, reported ABC News in 2008.
In 2009, Marguerite Engle, 45, was discovered by state troopers slumped behind the wheel of a stolen delivery van in South Dakota with 0.708 blood alcohol level.
The driver caught police officers’ attention after getting into a hit-and-run crash near the Plateau Travel Plaza on Northwest Cherry Lane in Madras, Oregon, on Friday
According to the Rutgers University Center of Alcohol Studies, a BAC level of 0.55 would require a 100-pound man or woman to consume about 10 alcoholic drinks in an hour.
In most cases, blood alcohol levels between 0.4 and 0.5 are fatal.
Arguably the highest recorded blood alcohol level in a person who lived to tell the tale was reported in 2005 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where a 67-year-old man’s BAC was an eye-popping 0.914.
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