Oct 18, 2011

Man Arrested Driving with 10 Times Legal BAC

Man Arrested Driving with 10 Times Legal BAC
by Michael Hone

Tries to bribe officers, lands in jail

SALVADOR, Bahia – On Monday, 59-year-old Jorge Luis Matos was caught by Federal Highway Police (PRF) driving drunk on a highway in Bahia. Police said that after the man failed a breathalyzer test, he tried to bribe highway police into letting him escape, offering them R$200 (about U.S.$113) .

Driver in Bahia caught driving with BAC ten times legal limit

The PRF said the arrest was made after an anonymous tip. The officers located and stopped the man's truck on Monday afternoon, as he was driving on the BR-407 highway, at the 117 km marker—very near a PRF checkpoint.

According to police, the driver showed clear signs of alcohol intoxication. A breathalyzer test showed an BAC level ten times the legal limit allowed of alcohol per liter of blood. The suspect was taken to the Civil Police station in Senhor do Bomfim, where he will answer to charges of bribery and drunk driving. He faces two to 12 years imprisonment. Because he is accused of committing two crimes, he will not be allowed to post bail.

Since the passage of a nationwide law, known as the lei seca, in 2008, the legal maximum BAC (blood alcohol level) while operating a motor vehicle on public roads in Brazil is .02. Previously, it was .06. The accused blew a 20.4.

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Brazilian online news source for this article: G1 Bahia

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