Stanley Kobierowski is arraigned yesterday on drunken driving and resisting arrest.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

PROVIDENCE — Stanley Kobierowski, who made national news when he was allegedly caught driving drunk with a blood-alcohol content so high that it could have been fatal, was formally arraigned in District Court yesterday.

Judge Michael Higgins scheduled a pretrial conference for Sept. 5 on the two misdemeanor charges that have been lodged against Kobierowski: Driving while intoxicated and resisting arrest. Having pleaded innocent, the 34-year-old chef remains free on bond.

Appearing in court in a charcoal gray suit and blue shirt, a soft-spoken Kobierowski identified himself to the judge and gave his home address — 29 Campbell Ave., North Providence. Much of the brief hearing consisted of a quiet conference among the lawyers and the judge that was out of the earshot of spectators.

Afterward, the defendant, his lawyer and a woman who was with them rushed out of the courtroom in order to avoid the media.

Kobierowski was arrested July 21 after his car struck an electronic message board on Route 95 near Providence Place. The state police said that a chemical breath test showed his blood-alcohol level was six times the legal limit and is believed to be the highest reading on a test using the Breathalyzer in Rhode Island.

There were two readings recorded by a trooper of .489 and .491, compared to the legal limit of .08. One alcohol-intoxication expert said there is a very severe risk of death for the average person with a reading that approaches .4

The case has drawn national attention. For example, Jay Leno, host of the Tonight show, made a joke of it in his nightly monologue. CNN listed it as a news item in its bottom-of-the-TV-screen news crawl. And CNN political commentator Glenn Beck mentioned it on his show.

The defendant initially was scheduled for formal arraignment July 25, but Michael J. Healey, spokesman for Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, said the arraignment was postponed for one week to allow Kobierowski to begin an alcoholism-rehabilitation program.

gsmith@projo.com