Driver registers a 0.49, pleads not guilty

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A Rhode Island man who authorities say had a blood-alcohol level more than six times the legal limit has pleaded not guilty to drunken driving.

Stanley Kobierowski was released on personal recognizance Friday after appearing in Providence District Court, a TV station reported.

Police say Kobierowski registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.491 percent after driving into a message board on Interstate 95 in Providence.

The legal limit in Rhode Island is 0.08. A level of 0.30 is classified as stupor, 0.4 is comatose and 0.5 is considered fatal, according to the health department.

Police say Kobierowski’s level may have been the highest ever recorded in Rhode Island for someone who wasn’t dead.