PAW PAW, Mich. -- A Paw Paw man convicted three previous times for drunk driving is in trouble again for driving while having a blood alcohol level of nearly six times the legal limit.
The legal limit in Michigan is .08.
"That's a lot of hard drinking with a lot of hard alcohol," said Sgt. Dan Abbott with the Van Buren County Sheriff's Department. "I've been doing this job for 23 years, I've never seen one that high."
Ryan Warmack, 44, was arraigned Wednesday. Van Buren County deputies say that Warmack was delivering newspapers, with his dog in the car, when he was arrested last Thursday afternoon.
The Van Buren County deputy on the scene noticed Warmack's vehicle weave through an area closed due to a previous crash. The deputy was using his vehicle to block traffic and Warmack allegedly drove around him, even after making eye contact.
"His eyes were bloodshot and glossy and had the slurred speech," said Abbott. "The deputy immediately could see about four empty beer cans in the back floor board. He was trying to hide something in the console which subsequently ended up being a 24 oz. open beer can."
Abbott said when Warmack was asked to exit his car and perform a dexterity evaluation, he did surprisingly well. Coherence is not uncommon with people who are used to consuming high amounts of alcohol on a daily basis.
"A normal individual, that you know has a drink once a week or every other week type-thing, they would be passed out before they even got half the level he was at," said Abbott. "And for him to be able to stand and do a dexterity evaluation on a roadside is phenomenal at that level."
As mentioned earlier, Warmack is no stranger to the courts. According to his Secretary of State driving records, he's been arrested and convicted three times in the past for operating while intoxicated. He also has a few misdemeanors under his name.
Abbott believes Warmack had to have had more than beer in his system to get to 5 1/2 over the legal limit.
"I would almost assume that he had been drinking Vodka or something hard like that and then switched over to beer to get to the level he was at," said Abbott. "With the alcohol content in a can of beer, I don’t believe you can drink enough beer to get to the high level he was at."
Investigators say that Warmack's dog was returned home.
