HAVERHILL — He was stripped of his driver's license and spent time in jail on charges of drinking and driving, yet it didn't stop a Haverhill man from continuing to drive, police say.

Yesterday in Haverhill District Court, prosecutor John DePaulo told Judge Stephen Abany that the court system had tried everything to keep Barry Beede, 65, from putting others at risk by drinking and driving.

"There is no court order that would ensure the public safety other than his being held in Middleton until his trial," DePaulo said at a hearing to decide whether Beede is a danger to society.

On April 22, Beede, of 276 Liberty St., was arrested by Haverhill police after they received a call from someone who reported that Beede drove toward oncoming traffic on Hilldale Avenue and nearly collided with a motorcycle.

At his arraignment the next day, Beede was ordered held without bail at the Middleton jail.

Yesterday, DePaulo argued against Beede's release citing his history of drunken-driving offenses going back at least 14 years, adding he has served time in jail, including 21/2 years for a 2003 conviction.

"This is somebody that not only drives drunk, but drives after the registry suspended his license," said DePaulo.

Beede's lawyer, attorney Andrew Benson of Haverhill, argued that convictions reaching back 14 years are no reason to consider his client a danger today.

"What is the evidence of present dangerousness," Benson said. "A record more than five years ago can't be an indication of his present danger."

"This is almost a travesty," Benson told the judge.

If found guilty, Beede could receive up to five years in state prison and would serve a mandatory two years in a house of correction, according to the district attorney's office.

Court documents show that on the evening of April 22, police responded to a call and were flagged down by a witness who pointed to the driveway at 897 Hilldale Ave., where a green Pontiac was parked.

The witness told police the car went off the road several times, crossed the center line into oncoming traffic nearly colliding with a motorcycle, and went over a curb, blowing out a front tire. The witness told police the driver was able to pull into the driveway, despite the damaged wheel.

Police said they approached Beede and saw him stagger and then lean on the car for support. His eyes appeared reddened and bloodshot and he smelled of alcohol, police said.

"Leave me alone. I just drove here to visit my friend," Beede told police.

Police said Beede had an outstanding arrest warrant related to the suspension of his driver's license four years ago. At that time, because of his prior drunken-driving conviction, Beede's driving privileges in Massachusetts were suspended for 10 years.

Police said they would issue Beede's girlfriend, Lynda Desisto, 53, of the same address, a citation for allowing Beede to operate her vehicle, knowing that his license was suspended, and issue her a summons to appear in court.

In 2005, Beede, who listed his occupation as a heavy equipment mechanic, pleaded guilty to charges brought against him in 2003 for operating a motor vehicle while drunk, a fourth offense, operating a car after revocation of his license and leaving the scene after causing an accident.

Police said that on Feb. 2, 2003, Beede drove through a stop sign at the intersection of Main Street and 16th Avenue, crashing into a car driven by a Lawrence man. Police stopped Beede a short distance from the accident and he failed several sobriety tests. He told police he had consumed five or six beers at the AmVets Hall on Primrose Street that night.

Beede had three prior drunken-driving convictions — in 1994 out of Haverhill District Court and Lawrence District Court and in 1997 out of Salem Superior Court.