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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Woman's blood alcohol content peaks state records |
| 2009-12-29 |
| A Sturgis woman had a record-setting blood alcohol level of .708 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 was almost nine times the level at which South Dakota authorities presume a person is intoxicated. 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 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 the highest blood alcohol test measured he could recall was .56. 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. After she was found, Engle was hospitalized and freed free on bond. She failed appear in court on Dec. 15, but Sturgis police found her Monday evening -- in another stolen car sitting in a ditch along S.D. Highway 34 near Fort Meade. Engle was arrested for second offense driving under the influence and taken to jail. Engle made her initial appearance in Meade County magistrate court Tuesday. She is currently being held without bond. Sondreal said Engle has been living in a hotel after recently moving here from Minnesota. Engle is most likely facing charges in Pennington County since both vehicles were stolen in Rapid City, Sondreal said. |
| Posted by:Beavis |
| #4 Sturgis? Surprised she didn't steal a motorcycle.... |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-12-29 22:49 |
| #3 She must have a liver the size of the aleged floating trash pile in the Pacific. |
| Posted by: TomAnon 2009-12-29 22:17 |
| #2 AKA "a long weekend" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-12-29 21:04 |
| #1 Jeebus, IOW iff she ever suffered a wound injury her blood will SMELL, TASTE, + PROLLY LOOK LIKE ALCOHOL, or at least PINK WINE??? Plus, be COMATOSE due to ALCOHOL/TOXIC POISONING + SHOCK??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-12-29 21:03 |