Selectman arrested for second OUI

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Ryan Lorrain

PORTLAND — Ryan Lorrain, the youngest selectman in Paris and the treasurer for the Oxford County Republican Committee, was arrested February 5 by the Portland Police Department, on an OUI charge – his second OUI arrest.

At 4:45 a.m. on Sunday, February 5, Lorrain was picked up at 1037 Congress Street in Portland by Officer Hagerty of the Portland Police Department, who noticed that Lorrain was driving the wrong way down a one-way street.

Lorrain said that he had spent much of Saturday night in Old Port and thought that he had waited long enough for the alcohol to leave his system before he attempted to drive.

There was one passenger in the car, who was of legal drinking age, said Lorrain.

"I'd been down in Old Port and thought at the time that I'd be all set to drive back," he said. "It doesn't always work out like that."

The address is located right off an exit ramp from Interstate Highway 295, but Lt. Rogers of the PPD said that he didn't know whether Lorrain was driving on the expressway.

Hagerty pulled Lorrain over.

"The officer investigated and then arrested him for OUI [Operating Under the Influence]," said Rogers. "He was also charged with operating without a license because he had a conditional license."

Rogers said that he did not know the conditions on Lorrain's driving license, but that Lorrain must have been in violation of those conditions in order to draw the charge.

Lorrain was tested to determine his blood alcohol content, and results demonstrated that he was over the legal limit of .08.

Lorrain spent about six hours in custody before being bailed out at 11:04 a.m. from the Cumberland County Jail.

"In no way is this going to negatively affect my ability to perform my duties as a selectman," said Lorrain. "I know that, by taking on the role of politics in my life, it's like being sort of in a fishbowl for the rest of the town, but it's my opinion that it's a personal matter."

"I expect to learn from this," said Lorrain. "I'm obviously not proud of this. I have a lot to make up for ... you can't go back and fix what you have wrong. The only thing I can do is go forward. I don't blame anybody but myself."

Lorrain said that he has hired a lawyer to help guide him through the legal process.

He currently works full time in Augusta as sergeant-at-arms for the state legislature.

He said that the arrest will not affect his ability to get to and from work, as he carpools.

Lorrain said he called his employer in Augusta the morning that he was released from custody, and that he didn't anticipate that the incident would cost him his job.

Lorrain also said that he had reviewed the rules of the Paris Board of Selectmen, and did not see anything that suggested he would jeopardize his position on the board.

He said that previous selectmen have committed similar crimes.

The arrest is not the first time the young politician has run afoul of the law.

In August of 2008, during his first run for the state house of representatives, he received a speeding ticket for going 69 in a 55 mph zone.

About seven months later, in March of 2009, Lorrain was charged with an OUI by the Norway Police Department. At this point, Lorrain's license was suspended, but he regained it eight months later, in December 2009.

Lorrain said that this offense would have been dropped, had he sought appropriate legal representation.

"I have been informed by many lawyers that that could have been dropped. I didn't have the money," he said.

According to Lorrain, he has been at a house with friends, and an argument broke out. Lorrain said that he took an emotional friend into his car, which was parked in the driveway, to talk to that person. He turned the car on because it was cold, and he wanted to be warm, he said.

"I was parked in the driveway and I had a headlight out. The officer pulled up and asked about the headlight being out. I said 'I'm not driving anywhere tonight.' ... He said he saw me drive into the driveway, which was a load of crap. I hadn't gone anywhere. For him to say that, it was ridiculous."

In April of 2011, Lorrain received another speeding conviction for going 50 in a 45 mph zone.

For his recent OUI, Lorrain's license is once again pending suspension by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles; the suspension will become effective on February 25, and will last for three years.

However, Lorrain could gain driving privileges in as few as nine months if he installs an ignition interlock device on his vehicle. Such devices require the driver to blow into a breathalyzer to prove sobriety before the car's ignition can be engaged.

"The Secretary of State may reinstate the driving privileges of a person convicted of a second or subsequent intoxicant related offense if that person satisfies all other conditions for license reinstatement and installs an approved ignition interlock device," according to BMV documents.

In order to get the conditional license, Lorrain will also need to participate in a substance abuse program called DEEP (Driver Education and Evaluation Program).

The goal of the program is to reduce the risk of re-offense for OUI.

Lorrain said that he intended to follow a legal process that could change the outcome.

Lorrain, who turned 24 in December, has distinguished himself as a young politician, and has already made two bids for the Maine House of Representatives.

He was elected to the Paris Board of Selectmen last year, with 148 votes compared to just 64 for the next runner-up, John Goodwin.

Lorrain, who describes himself as a conservative Christian republican, ran for the state House of Representatives in 2008.

More recently, he nearly unseated Democrat Terry Hayes of Buckfield in the 2010 election, losing by about 100 votes out of more than 4,000 votes cast.