Norwegian snowboarder gets jail term

A 22-year-old professional Norwegian snowboarder was sentenced Wednesday to spend another night in jail after he pleaded guilty to being in control of a vehicle while drunk.

Mikkel Bentzon of Oslo, Norway, said he was "more than a little drunk" when a Douglas County sheriff's deputy managed to rouse him and his friends who were sleeping in a car on Airport Road near Highway 395.

"We parked. Me and my friends were asleep in my car and a police officer knocked on the window," Bentzon told East Fork Justice Pro Tem Paul Gilbert.

According to reports, officers were investigating a property damage report when they came upon Bentzon's vehicle early Feb. 22.

Deputies knocking on the car window were unable to wake the occupants for several minutes. An officer reached in and removed the car keys.

Bentzon was in the driver's seat.

His blood-alcohol content tested at .162, more than twice the legal limit of .08 for driving in Nevada.

Lawyer Derrick Lopez said Bentzon was returning to Norway at the end of March and was in the area for a Truckee snowboard tournament.

He made arrangements for his client to serve 18 hours in jail at Stateline beginning at 8 p.m. Sunday.

Bentzon was also fined $892.

Gilbert waived a requirement that Bentzon attend DUI school or the victim's impact panel because he will be back in Norway.

n Sentencing was deferred Wednesday for three years for two teenagers who caused $7,500 damage to Carson Valley Golf Course by "jousting" with two juveniles in four golf carts.

Attorney Tod Young said Devin Barker, 18, and Raymond Feldmiller, 19, each paid $1,868.31 restitution and wrote letters of apology after the Oct. 20, 2007 vandalism.

According to reports, the four drove golf carts after hours over the wet greens, mounts, bunkers, tee markers and boundary ropes, crashed the carts into each other, and flipped the carts.

"These are really decent young men who went off on a lark and did something foolish and destructive. They are studious, courteous and well on their way to success," Young said.

Owner Tom Brooks did not attend Wednesday's sentencing, but asked that Barker be required to perform 100 hours of community service because he was more culpable. Barker worked at the golf course.

East Fork Justice Pro Tem Paul Gilbert agreed to Young's request that Barker perform the hours at the Boys & Girls Club of Carson Valley.

The two will be allowed to withdraw their pleas in three years if they violate no more laws.

"Don't do stupid stuff like that," Gilbert said. "I hope this will be the last time you guys come in here."

n A hearing was set for March 26 for a Reno man who works for a car repossession company and was accused of battery after he allegedly grabbed a woman as he tried to take her vehicle.

"Don't you know you have to check in with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office that you're in the area to repossess vehicles so somebody doesn't call and say, 'I'm being carjacked'?" East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl said.

Timothy Jason Wangler, 28, pleaded not guilty to battery.

According to the alleged victim, she was at a Minden gas station Feb. 20 when Wangler approached her and asked if she knew the owner of the pickup truck who was her son.

She said he hit her in the mouth and knocked out two fillings when he pulled out the keys. She told deputies she thought she was being carjacked.

She drove away and said Wangler followed her. Her passenger thought he pulled out a handgun and said, "I will get you."

Wangler said he shook his finger at her and said, "I will get that truck."

Wangler said one of the victim's relatives called and threatened to kill him.

n East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl approved an inpatient treatment program for a woman who was arrested for drunk driving with a blood-alcohol content more than five times the legal limit of .08 in Nevada.

He set sentencing for May 7 for Glenda Fialkowski, 39, who was arrested Feb. 14 with a blood-alcohol content of .420. She has a Lyon County conviction for drunk driving in 2003. She pleaded guilty Wednesday to driving under the influence with one prior.

Her lawyer, Tod Young, said Fialkowski was concerned about her health and had secured a bed at a treatment program at her own expense.

"This is designed to try to help her have a life," Young said.

EnEarl set sentencing for May 7 and ordered her to remain in Douglas County Jail until she is admitted to the program.

"I was at my friend's house and I drank a bottle of vodka. Her daughter was coming home and her mom called the cops to take me to Behavioral Health Services. I heard the cops were coming, and I grabbed my bottle of vodka and got behind the wheel."