Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office yesterday convinced a judge that a seven-time drunk driver recently arrested for the same offense is too dangerous to release on bail.

Acting under Ch. 276, Sect. 58A, of the Massachusetts General Laws, Chelsea District Court Judge James Wexler ordered ALBERT DIAZ (D.O.B. 8/16/59) of East Boston held without bail for up to 90 days pending trial. The state’s so-called “dangerousness statute” allows a judge to detain defendants accused of certain crimes upon “clear and convincing evidence that no conditions of release will reasonably assure the safety of any other person or the community.”

Diaz is charged with operating under the influence as a fifth or subsequent offense, operating under the influence with a license suspended for operating under the influence, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and other offenses. Massachusetts State Police arrested him as he allegedly drove drunk along Route 1 southbound last week; at the time of his arrest, his license had been revoked for life as a result of seven prior OUI convictions.

At a hearing in Chelsea District Court yesterday, Assistant District Attorney Brendan Cox of Conley’s Major Felony Bureau introduced the testimony of State troopers who arrested and booked Diaz on the night of Nov. 23.

Prosecutors say Diaz was weaving across lanes and driving erratically when State Police spotted him in Revere just before 11:00 p.m. Troopers followed his 2006 Hyundai Azera until they could stop him safely on Carter Street in Chelsea.

Troopers immediately detected the odor of alcohol coming from inside the car when they approached the driver’s side window. When asked for his license, Diaz said he didn’t have one. With some difficulty, he was able to produce a New Hampshire identification card from his wallet.

Based on the scent of alcohol, his glassy eyes, and difficulty in speaking clearly, troopers suspected he was intoxicated and they ordered him out of the vehicle. When asked him to walk to the front of his car, he allegedly staggered and weaved as he complied, making statements that he’d had half a beer in East Boston.

Diaz failed two field sobriety tests at the scene and refused to submit to any more. When arrested and brought to the Revere Barracks, he refused a Breathalyzer test, saying “My lawyer told me never to take any tests.”

Also at the barracks, troopers checked his record and found that his license to drive in Massachusetts had been revoked for life and that he had seven prior convictions for driving drunk in Essex, Middlesex, and Suffolk counties dating back to 1987, most recently serving two and a half years in Middlesex County for a 2004 conviction.

In a similar case, Conley’s office also sought a dangerousness hearing for THOMAS McCUE (D.O.B. 7/11/69) of Woburn following his arrest for operating under the influence as a fifth offense in the early morning hours of Nov. 18. McCue was clocked at about 85 mph driving westbound on Storrow Drive; he later rear-ended another vehicle on the Harvard Bridge. State Police had to break his window in order to remove him from his car and he later blew a .24 during a Breathalyzer test – three times the legal limit for driving in Massachusetts.

Boston Municipal Court Judge Annette Forde declined to hold McCue as dangerous at a Nov. 23 hearing. She instead set his bail at $1,000. McCue will return to court on Jan. 30.

Diaz is represented by attorney Ronald Wayland and will return to court on Dec. 21.