Enge pleads to DUI charge

Offering no excuses, Carson City School Board member Joe Enge pleaded guilty Wednesday to drunken driving.

"You operated a motor vehicle after consuming alcohol?" asked Justice of the Peace John Tatro during Enge's first and only appearance in connection with his Jan. 31 arrest.

"Yes, I did," said Enge, 46, who was not represented by an attorney.

When asked if he had anything further to say, the former history teacher stammered, "I don't want to waste the time's court. I pled guilty, because I am guilty."

In exchange for the plea, a charge of failure to maintain a single lane was dismissed.

Tatro sentenced him to a maximum sentence for first-offense drunken driving of 179 days in jail, suspended on the condition that Enge attend a victim's impact panel, DUI school and get counseling for alcoholism.

Tatro also put Enge on formal probation for one to three years, during which he

will be subject to random alcohol and drug testing and search and seizure by the Department of Alternative Sentencing.

Enge was arrested Jan. 31 after an officer spotted him driving with no headlights on Highway 50 East at 3 a.m.

When deputies tried to stop him, Enge allegedly drove another 2.5 miles at about 40 mph with at least three marked patrol units following before pulling over.

A blood test revealed his blood alcohol content was .310 " nearly four times the legal limit.

Tatro said he was shocked by the high blood-alcohol content.

"Most people can't walk or talk if they get to that level. If you're at that level and you're walking, it just screams out that you have a problem," said the judge.

After the hearing, Enge said he felt liberated by his arrest. It forced him to admit that after two previous DUIs, a dismissed DUI in 2005, and hit-and-run of a fence in 2008, he had drinking problem.

"I'm a religious man, and I believe everything happens for a reason," he said. "I thought because I was successful in other parts of my life, that I didn't have a problem. I found out I did."

Under Nevada law, a person must have two DUI convictions within a seven-year period in order for the third offense to be considered a felony.

- Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.