A Sturgis woman had a blood-alcohol level of .708 percent, possibly a state record, when she was found earlier this month behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle parked on Interstate 90, according to Meade County State’s Attorney Jesse Sondreal.
A South Dakota Highway Patrol trooper discovered Marguerite Engle, 45, on Dec. 1 passed out behind the wheel of a delivery truck reported stolen in Rapid City.
Her blood-alcohol level was almost nine times South Dakota’s legal limit of .08 percent.
Checks with local and state labs where blood-alcohol levels are tested suggest Engle’s reading may be the highest ever recorded in South Dakota, Sondreal said.
Sondreal said a state chemist recalled a sample that tested .53, but nothing higher, in his more than 30 years on the job.
Dr. Robert Looyenga, who recently retired from the Rapid City Police Department’s forensic laboratory, told Sondreal that the highest blood-alcohol sample he tested measured .56 percent.
Sondreal’s research indicates that a blood-alcohol level of .40 is considered a lethal dose for about 50 percent of the population.
“Engle’s was almost double that,” Sondreal said.
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The BAC level of this woman in almost beyond belief. The highest I’ve ever heard of.
Why isn’t she dead? How could anyone survive with that much alcohol in their system?
That’s almost unbelievable. The highest I’ve ever seen was 0.41 by a hard-core alcoholic. The recruit riding with me didn’t understand why I pulled him over.
The highest I ever came across was .440% and that was almost unbelievable but I conducted the test myself. A BAC as high this woman is reported to have registered is highly suspect. As a not so long ago qualified breath tech I’m inclined to think she might have burped just before she blew. But having said that, whoever conducted the test should have been closely observing this woman in case she did burp. If she did then there is a mandatory waiting period to allow for the alcohol to dissipate in her mouth before she blows or you get sky high readings. Don’t know about this one, something doesn’t sound right.
The highest I ever encountered was .29% and when I opened his door he fell out of the car at my feet. Something smells here.
My 410 guy’s driving evidence was over-correcting jerkily but he walked straight. His hands trembled and he had that “soaked in rum” smell (most old cops know what I’m talking about).
I grabbed him on my way back to the Detachment from morning coffee. Seriously.
He blew 410mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood three times. The BAC operator insisted on a three reading because there wasn’t a perceptive drop between the first and second reading. Then he recalibrated the instrument to ensure everything was working properly and it was.
The guy plead out. It was his 10th impaired driving conviction and 3rd prohibited driving conviction. He was pending trial for his 9th and 2nd when I got him. He got some jail time but nothing serious because he wasn’t involved in a collision and the judge was always easier on guys who pleaded guilty.
The guy I got was warned by me three times as he stumbled out of the NCO club not to drive. Each time he went back inside. As soon as my back was turned he drove (all over the road) and fell out of the car when I got him stopped.
He was the local paymaster and everyone in the detachment was really pissed off at me as they envisioned the problems ahead. I just shrugged my shoulders and walked away (there were no problems).
I can’t envision anyone having a BAC this high.
It’s not like he wasn’t warned. I’ve given warnings and rides more often than I care to remember.
Hell, I even walked a guy home once! He lived half a block away but was determined to drive home. I suggested strongly it would result in a longer drive and an unpleasant destination. He was hedging so I escorted him home. His wife thanked me and gave me the keys to give to the neighbour who he’d been visiting.
Indeed. Been there, done that.
I’m off to bed.
G’night!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp7r0j4XrO8
I read the alcohol report on smoking gun and it was a blood test not a breathalyzer, is BAC a breath test?
BAC can be either blood or breath. It stands for blood alcohol content.
The legal limit being 0.08 milligrams of alcohol in 100 milliliters of blood which is what lawmakers (which assistance of doctors and scientists) picked as being the point at which the ability to drive was definitely impaired regardless of the individual.
For most of us who don’t engage in patterned drinking, 0.08 would put us under the table.
Blood samples to determine BAC always produce a higher (exact) reading than breath samples. But not that much higher!