PORTLAND — Ryan Lorrain, the youngest selectman in Paris and treasurer for the Oxford County Republican Committee, was arrested last week by the Portland Police Department on a charge of operating under the influence — his second OUI arrest in the past three years.

Lorrain, 24, is also the sergeant-at-arms for the Maine House of Representatives and is a former legislative candidate.

Lorrain’s role at the State House is to maintain order in the House Chamber, to escort messages delivered to the governor and to supervise the distribution of materials to legislators, according to a state government website.

As a result of the arrest, Lorrain’s license will be suspended for three years, effective Feb. 25.

According to police, Lorrain was stopped at 4:45 a.m. Feb. 5 at 1037 Congress St. by officer Kali Hagerty of the Portland Police Department, who noticed that Lorrain was driving the wrong way down a one-way street.

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

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

“I’d been down in the 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.”

He was pulled over just off an exit ramp from I-295.

“The officer investigated and then arrested him for OUI,” Portland Lt. Gary Rogers said. “He was also charged with operating without a license because he had a conditional license.”

Rogers said 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. According to police, it was over the legal threshold of 0.08 percent.

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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,” Lorrain said. “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,” Lorrain said. “I’m obviously not proud of this. I have a lot to make up for . . . I don’t blame anybody but myself.”

Lorrain carpools to Augusta, and said the arrest and subsequent license suspension would not affect his ability to commute to work.

According to Lorrain, he called his employer after he was released from custody, but did not anticipate the incident would cost him his job.

He 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.

In March 2009, Lorrain was charged with an OUI in Norway. In August 2008, during his first run for the  Maine House of Representatives, he received a speeding ticket for driving 69 mph in a 55-mph zone. And, in April 2011, Lorrain received another speeding conviction for going 50 in a 45mph zone.

He was elected to the Paris Board of Selectmen in 2011.

The conservative Christian Republican ran for the state House of Representatives in 2008. He ran for the seat again in 2010, losing to incumbent Democrat Teresea Hayes of Buckfield by about 100 votes, of more than 4,000 cast.


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