A man whose license has already been revoked in four states for drunken driving was pulled over on Veterans Memorial Bridge in South Portland over the weekend and charged with drunken driving – again.

South Portland police Officer Chris Gosling spotted a Dodge Ram truck going 76 mph in a 35-mph zone just shortly 1 a.m. Saturday and stopped it on the off-ramp to Scarborough.

Gosling subsequently charged the driver, Lanny Griffin, 31, with driving drunk, driving with a revoked license, criminal speeding, being a habitual offender and possession of marijuana, police said.

Griffin told police he was moving to Maine from Milton, Fla., but did not have a Maine license. That may be because his license to drive in Florida has been permanently revoked because he had four or more drunken driving convictions in that state, police said.

Griffin’s right to operate also has been suspended in Alabama, Nebraska and Kentucky for drunken driving convictions, police said.

“Griffin’s driving history demonstrates a complete inability to voluntarily comply with our motor vehicle laws, making him a menace to the motoring public,” said a statement issued by South Portland police Lt. Frank Clark.

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According to records at the Cumberland County Jail, Griffin refused to take a blood-alcohol test after he was stopped.

An analysis by the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram in August found that more than 5,000 people in Maine who have been stopped four or more times for drunken driving could still be driving. The number of people in Maine who have had at least three prior cases of operating under the influence rose to almost 15,000.

State records show that 819 drivers have had three or more drunken-driving license suspensions within the past 10 years.

The state has no mechanism for permanently revoking a person’s driver’s license.

David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:

dhench@pressherald.com


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