Originally published December 27, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified December 27, 2007 at 2:17 PM
Oregon woman charged with drunken driving tests .55 percent
When they got Meagan Harper to the hospital, her blood alcohol level was . 55 percent — about seven times greater than Oregon's legal...
OREGON CITY, Ore. — When they got Meagan Harper to the hospital, her blood alcohol level was .55 percent — about seven times greater than Oregon's legal limit for driving.
"You just don't see numbers that high," said Dr. Mohamud Daya, an Oregon Health & Science University associate professor and emergency room physician.
At that level, some people are so drunk they stop breathing, he said.
Harper has drunken driving convictions in Washington and Multnomah counties and was convicted in Wasco County of operating a boat while intoxicated, said Ryan Chiotti, deputy district attorney in Clackamas County. He said she is on probation for driving under the influence and is awaiting trial on another drunken driving charge next month.
A Clackamas deputy found her passed out in a car at a pizza restaurant on Nov. 28.
She appeared in court Wednesday. Chiotti urged she be jailed, under high bail, as "an extraordinary danger to the community."
Judge Patrick Gilroy set her bail at $50,000 and told her to get help, "or you'll end up dead or taking someone with you."
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
New laws help tenants evicted due to foreclosure
Researchers stunned by inmates' success raising endangered frogs
Seattle may allow homeowners to build backyard cottages
Federal Way group on trail of missing pets
Must Metro commuting at Northgate be so chaotic?

2009 fireworks time lapse
With strict parking rules enforced at this year's July 4th celebration on Wallingford Ave North, less cars and more spectators filled the streets.
Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
shopping

events for Monday, Jul. 6th
- Blackbird Spring Half-Yearly Sale
- Posh on Main Semiannual Sale
- Alhambra July Sale
- Evo Independence Sale
editors' picks
More shopping guides- Landmark Smith Tower mostly vacant
- Property taxes: Appeals shoot up in King, Snohomish Counties
- Palin links resignation to 'higher calling' and blasts media in Facebook posting
- Former NFL MVP McNair killed
- Hard times for tourist towns means good deals for travelers
- Shooting unveils very different sides of McNair
- Tukwila residents rally against light-rail noise
- Quincy Jones remembers "the biggest entertainer on the planet": Michael Jackson
- Confessions of an Idol Addict | "American Idols" on tour: Live coverage from opening date
- Plasma and LCD beware; OLED screens ready to go mainstream
- Seattle Mariners at Boston Red Sox: 07/05 game thread
247 - Palin links resignation to 'higher calling' and blasts media in Facebook posting
177 - Hatred for the NBA runs deep, but don't take it out on the players
137 - Tukwila residents rally against light-rail noise
126 - Former NFL MVP McNair killed
113 - Property taxes: Appeals shoot up is King, Snohomish Counties
103 - Tent City on campus: UW stalls decision
101 - Anti-tax rally in Olympia attracts about 1,500
68 - Seeking your questions
53 - Mariners did their part, now they need help
46
- Property taxes: Appeals shoot up in King, Snohomish Counties
- Hard times for tourist towns means good deals for travelers
- Landmark Smith Tower mostly vacant
- Plasma and LCD beware; OLED screens ready to go mainstream
- Tent City on campus: UW stalls decision
- The People's Pharmacy | Estrogen mimicker found in sunscreen
- Toyota's Toyoda scolds execs for emulating U.S. car companies' mistakes
- Tukwila residents rally against light-rail noise
- Outdoor-theater season kicks off at Volunteer Park
- Seattle safety project: A snake shelter on Beacon Hill
