Oregon drunk driver with BAC Nine Times above legal limit breaks US record, (Double the Fatal Amount)
An Oregon drunk driver who blew .778 – nine times the legal limit and the highest blood-alcohol level ever recorded in the U.S. – will serve 13 months in prison.
Nathan Danzuka of Madras, 28, was sentenced on May 27 to driving under the influence, reckless driving and a felony charge for evading police after he was involved in a hit-and-run in February, according to the Oregon Judicial Department.
He has been in jail since June 1, and will also get a year of probation and a life-long suspension of his driver’s license in addition to his 13-month sentence according to The Smoking Gun.
The Warm Springs Police Department was notified at 1:08 pm on February 22 that the driver of a white Ford Explorer had left after hitting a car near the Plateau Travel Plaza and was heading toward the town, according to a press release.
When police found him and pulled Danzuka over, they said ‘several alcoholic beverages’ strewn about the car, and that its driver was apparently drunk.
When he was told to get out of the car for sobriety testing, Danzuka hit the gas and led police on a half-mile chase then crashed into a concrete barrier on the side of Pelton Dam Road, police said.
He was brought to a nearby hospital, where his astonishing blood alcohol content was recorded. At just five-foot-seven and 190 pounds, it would take at least 28 shots of liquor within two or three hours to achieve such a high BAC – and that doesn’t factor in any developed tolerance, according to American Addiction Centers.
During a period of four to six hours, it would require at least 31 shots. Due to stomach capacity limits – 32 ounces for most people – Danzuka’s drink of choice must have been a potent liquor rather than less spatially efficient wine or beer.
According to AAC, a blood alcohol content over .40 is considered lethal and can cause the heart or breathing to stop and lead to a coma.
‘You’re probably not reading this because there’s a good chance that you’re unconscious,’ reads AAC’s alcohol.org blood alcohol calculator when it reaches levels above .40 percent. ‘This BAC indicates alcohol poisoning, and there is a very serious risk of long-term damage or death.’ Photo credit Getty.
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When he was arrested, Danzuka was in violation of his parole for a previous drunk driving incident in June of last year, for which he was charged with driving under the influence and recklessly endangering another person, according to Oregon’s Judicial Department.
Danzuka’s ‘about you’ section on his Facebook page reads: ‘You’d be a fool to say you lived life with no regrets.’
He was driving on a suspended license due to a previous drunk driving conviction, according to the New York Daily News.
Previously, according to The Smoking Gun, the highest blood alcohol content recorded belonged to Terri Comer, 42, also of Oregon.
Nathan Danzuka of Madras, 28, pled guilty to driving under the influence, reckless driving and charges for evading police after he fled the scene of a hit-and-run accident in February, according to the Oregon Department of Corrections.
She was found unconscious in her running car, which was wedged into a snow bank about 50 feet from a sign urging drivers not to drink and drive, at 11:30am in December 2007.
After breaking the window of her vehicle to get her out and taking her to the hospital, police discovered that Comer’s blood alcohol content was .72 percent. She was hospitalized for a day before she was taken into custody.
Danzuka’s ‘about you’ section on his Facebook page reads: ‘you’d be a fool to say you lived life with no regrets.’
