In a tightening of restrictions imposed last week, Galluccio will not be able leave his home to attend church or vote. A Cambridge District Court judge Wednesday placed state Senator Anthony D. Galluccio under house arrest - barring him from leaving his home for any reason, including to vote in the Senate - because the troubled lawmaker failed a breath alcohol test days after promising to stop drinking alcohol. Judge Matthew Nestor ordered Galluccio to return to court Jan. 4 for a hearing to determine whether he had violated the terms of the probation imposed after the senator pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident in which he hit a minivan carrying a family of four. Galluccio, who agreed last week to submit to random drug and alcohol testing, insisted Wednesday that his toothpastes - which contain sorbitol, a sugar alcohol - must have triggered the positive readings Monday. 'I have and will continue to live up to every commitment that I have made and every agreement that I have made,' he said as he left the courthouse with two public relations consultants at his side. The breath test is the latest in a string of troubles for the Cambridge Democrat, who in October rear-ended the minivan, leaving a 13-year-old boy and his father with injuries. Hours before that accident, a restaurateur had called Cambridge police and asked them to give Galluccio a ride home because he appeared to be intoxicated. Galluccio has twice been convicted of driving under the influence; he was pardoned for one of the convictions. In a third incident, a clerk-magistrate ruled that he had been drinking before causing a four-car accident in Boston, but that there was not enough evidence to warrant a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol. Senate President Therese Murray Wednesday issued a statement saying the Senate will 'consider its next steps' after the court decides whether Galluccio violated the terms of his probation. Galluccio resigned his chairmanships and posts on legislative committees Friday, but remains a member of the Senate. Also Wednesday, the chairwoman of the Massachusetts Republican Party issued a statement calling for Galluccio to resign. 'He may think he lives by another set of rules, but he needs to level with the people of Massachusetts,' said Jennifer Nassour. 'It's embarrassing that the Senate Democrats have tolerated his criminal behavior and have offered only weak criticism. This situation is undeniable evidence of their failed leadership on Beacon Hill.' At Wednesday's court hearing, prosecutor Catherine Ham asked the judge to send Galluccio to jail until the hearing. But Nestor said the prosecutor did not have the authority to make that recommendation. The probation department recommended that Galluccio be confined to his home - a tightening of restrictions imposed last week, when he was ordered to leave his home only to attend church or vote in the Senate. His argument that sorbitol caused him to fail a breath test is not without precedent. Several defense lawyers and expert witnesses said Wednesday that the breathalyzers of the type Galluccio was ordered to use in his home are unreliable and can be triggered by other substances. 'There are other chemicals that can cause a reaction,' said Thomas E. Workman Jr., a Taunton attorney and expert witness who studies breath test technology. Galluccio's lawyer Wednesday asked the judge to order a urine test to check his client's blood alcohol levels. Nestor declined, saying Galluccio tested positive for alcohol several times between 3 and 4:45 p.m. Monday. The judge said he would allow Galluccio to leave home for it but would not order such a test. 'Whether he's clean at some other time is irrelevant,' said Nestor. STRICTER RULES 