A Rhode Island man just set the unofficial record for most DUIs in a 36-hour span, racking up four drunk driving arrests in a day and a half.
The whole ordeal for John Lourenco, 53, began Sunday afternoon when his Dodge pickup collided with a family’s SUV, injuring a 4-year-old and 6-year-old in the other vehicle. The children received treatment and were released from a local hospital, and Lourenco was booked for driving under the influence after failing a field sobriety test.
According to the police report, Lourenco became hostile with officers and hospital staff while being treated for minor injuries. He allegedly threatened an officer and threw a bottle of urine at a nurse. He was released after being given a summons to appear in court on the drunk driving charge.
But Mr. Lourenco’s poor choices didn’t stop there. Bright an early Monday morning Lourenco was back behind the wheel, this time driving a Chevy Sedan. Police responded to a report of a traffic accident around 7 a.m. and found that Lourenco had hit another car. He blew a 0.220, nearly three times the legal limit, when given a Breathalyzer at the scene. He was charged with drunk driving and released to his parents.
Again, Lourenco failed to learn his lesson. Around 11 a.m. an officer noticed a Plymouth Barracuda driving erratically down the road. The officer stopped the vehicle and once again found Lourenco behind the wheel. Lourenco was arrested and taken to the hospital, where he was released to their custody. Lourenco was released from the hospital after having his blood drawn.
Sadly, just a few hours later, Lourenco again made the poor choice to get behind the wheel. He was driving a dump truck when he crashed into a tree around 5 p.m. Monday night. Lourenco was again booked on suspicion of driving under the influence, but this time the police kept him in custody after the hospital drew his blood. He was scheduled to remain in police custody until his September 24 court date, but he was released Tuesday on $25,000 surety bail.
In addition to the four drunk driving charges, Lourenco also faces charges of:
• Refusing a Breathalyzer
• Failure to provide insurance
Brett Appelman comments
Sometimes a story provides more questions than answers, and that’s how I feel after reading this piece. Why did it take four arrests for the police to keep Lourenco in custody? Where did he need to get to so urgently? How they heck did he have access to three cars and a dump truck?
This is simply one of the stranger DUI stories I’ve ever read.
Related source: The Providence Journal
Illinois Criminal & Civil Defense Blog 
Further questions come up for me: Doesn’t this guy sleep? Why was he released to his PARENTS at age 53? Why is his bail so low given that he has shown his inability to be out in the world and not drive drunk? My guess is that the parents provide the answer to the 3 cars question, but the dump truck still baffles me.