Lodi man faces homicide charges after drunken driving crash

Dawson Timothy Diego Enge, 20, faces felony charges of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, homicide by use of a vehicle with a prohibited alcohol content, homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle, three counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety and misdemeanor offenses of causing injury due to drunken driving and while driving with a prohibited alcohol content. Enge was also charged with obstructing an officer.

According to the criminal complaint, he told a responding deputy at the scene of the crash in the early morning hours of May 21 that his passenger, 23-year-old Drew A. Fjoser, of Rio, had been driving the vehicle.

Enge was driving a Chevrolet Malibu just after 1:30 a.m. along U.S. Highway 12 in the town of Baraboo when the vehicle crossed the centerline and hit two other vehicles.

Nicholas Pendelton, 18, of Mauston, was driving a 2021 Ford Bronco north from Baraboo and 20-year-old Emily Tillinger, of Wisconsin Dells, was following him in a 2014 Ford Focus.

In interviews with police at the scene, Pendelton said he had gone around a slower vehicle in the right lane when he saw the bright lights of a vehicle in front of him before the car struck his Bronco and he “blacked out.”

Tillinger had also driven into the left lane when she saw the Malibu strike Pendelton’s vehicle. The Focus collided with the Bronco. Tillinger said she immediately exited her car and ran to Pendelton’s vehicle to see if he was unharmed before approaching the men in the Malibu to ask the driver why he crossed the centerline.

Pendelton was bleeding from his nose and mouth and later reported having a knee injury. Tillinger told authorities two days later that she had inflammation due to the physical trauma of the crash as well as bruising on multiple parts of her body. Both Tillinger and Pendelton told deputies that they were wearing seatbelts.

A deputy arrived to find the Malibu in the east ditch of the highway. Enge was sitting in the passenger seat while people worked to extricate Fjoser from the backseat.

According to the complaint, Enge initially told the deputy that Fjoser was the one who had been driving and that he did not know where his friend had gone, stating that it was not Fjoser in the backseat.

Witnesses of the crash told the deputy that Enge had been driving. He was seated in the passenger seat with his feet still over the middle console. The deputy posited that Fjoser had been in the passenger seat not wearing a seatbelt during the crash and that Enge had pulled himself over to the other side of the car.

A preliminary breath test on Enge found his alcohol level was 0.223%, according to the complaint.

Fjoser was still breathing and taken to UW Hospital in Madison via MedFlight, where he died from his injuries.

Enge was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital. He spoke to the deputy a day later and said he was unsure how much alcohol he had, but that he had been drinking beer during Automotion and again when he went to The Reef Club in Bobbers Island Grill in Wisconsin Dells, the complaint said.

He said he was able to gain entry despite being underage to drink alcohol because he knew people who worked there, according to the complaint. Sauk County Chief Deputy Eric Van Den Heuvel said on June 2 that deputies did find a fake driver's license with Enge's name on it and a false date of birth making him older than 21.

Enge faces a maximum of more than 58 years in prison and up to 40 years of extended supervision.

He made an initial court appearance Thursday, where Sauk County Circuit Court Judge Patricia Barrett set his bail.

As conditions of his bond, Enge is required to maintain absolute sobriety. He is prohibited from entering any establishment where the primary purpose is the sale of alcohol, possessing alcohol and driving a vehicle. He was required to turn in his passport upon release from jail and is not allowed to possess any controlled substances without a valid prescription.

Enge is scheduled to return to court Aug. 1.