Rhode Island Man Shatters Breathalyzer Record

Dude!

Get this guy to rehab. Quickly.

A North Providence man who crashed into a road sign late Monday was tested as having a blood-alcohol level six times the legal limit — believed to be the highest reading on a Breathalyzer in Rhode Island, according to the state police.

Stanley Kobierowski, 34, was tested after he crashed into an electronic message board on Route 95 near Providence Place. He tested at the scene with a blood-alcohol level of .489 and then .491. Kobierowski was released on personal recognizance after a bail hearing and will face another hearing Friday on charges of drunken driving and resisting arrest.

Brown University officials confirmed yesterday that until last year, Kobierowski was a chef at the residence of Brown president Ruth Simmons. He was also a chef at the former LaLuna restaurant and currently works at Providence’s Down City Café.

Kobierowski spent most of yesterday at Rhode Island Hospital’s detoxification unit. The police said they had to delay his arraignment until late in the afternoon largely because the hospital would not allow him out of its care until his blood alcohol had dropped below the legal limit of .08. When he arrived at the hearing at the state police barracks in Lincoln at about 4:45 p.m., he was wearing khaki shorts, a sweatshirt and a bandage on his chin. He was trembling slightly.

Two experts on detoxification and alcohol detection said later that in many ways, Kobierowski is lucky to be alive.

“For the average individual, there is a very severe risk of death when you start to approach a reading of .4,” said James Harasymiw, director of Alcohol Detection Services in Big Bend, Wis. He is slated to speak at a conference in Washington next week on a new screening designed to detect people who have been drinking heavily over the previous four to six weeks even though they appear to be sober.

“He is in a very small class of people because most people — even heavy drinkers — would be unconscious or approaching death to get up to .5. The danger with this guy is that with that kind of tolerance, you may appear to be fine one moment and unconscious the next.”

Well, if that chef gig goes down the tubes, he can always qualify as an Air America host.

Update: LGF reader dhg4 tipped me off to some video of this guy.



Hot Air and Ace link. Thanks!