Lang
7/24/20
Iowa City Police have arrested a transient they say registered a potentially deadly blood alcohol content over five-and-a-half times the legal limit for driving.
32-year-old Christopher Cartwright was taken into custody on Sunday on a warrant for Public Intoxication. The charge stems from a February 11th incident at the East Benton Street Delimart.
Police were called to the convenience store at 9:30 that night for an intoxicated man refusing to leave. Arriving officers found Cartwright passed out on a bench inside the store. They were able to successfully wake him up, but every time they tried to get him to leave he kept laying back down and trying to go back to sleep.
Cartwright showed multiple signs of intoxication and was placed under arrest. He initially refused breath testing, but a portable Breathalyzer test eventually detected a BAC of .459. According to a Virginia Tech study, any BAC over .40 includes the possibility of a coma and the risk of death. Above a .50 has a high probability of death.
Cartwright was taken to Mercy Hospital for treatment. A warrant was issued for his arrest two days later.