Epworth man Sentenced For Driving Golf Cart While Drunk

A man from Epworth has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and two years of informal probation for driving a golf cart while intoxicated in 2019. 42 year old Douglas Ernzen was recently given the sentence after pleading guilty to a charge of operating while intoxicated. Emergency responders were called to Gun Club Road near the Epworth ball fields at about 10:45pm on August 3, 2019, for a report of a man who was unresponsive after falling from a golf cart.  They found Bradly Wolfe of Dubuque, lying on the shoulder of the road with a serious head injury.  He was taken to MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center by ambulance, then transferred to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Investigators were told by other passengers in the golf cart that Wolfe “had been jumping up and down” on the golf cart driven by Ernzen when he fell off and hit his head on the pavement.  Ernzen fled from the scene before emergency responders arrived. Authorities later found Enzen at a family member’s home and that he admitted to driving the golf cart and said he “freaked out” when Wolfe fell. He reported that his last alcoholic drink was at 10 p.m. that night at a bar in Farley. It was  determined that Ernzen’s blood alcohol content at the time of Wolfe’s fall was 0.126%.