Bastrop deputy arrested for DWI while on-duty

Bastrop County Sheriff's deputy Fred Ensinger was on the other side of the handcuffs Friday morning after his supervisor arrested him for D.W.I.

"Our dispatchers noticed that one of our officer's, over the radio, appeared to have some slurred speech seemed to be a little disoriented and they were worried about his well-being," Charlie Littleton, Chief Deputy at the Bastrop County Sheriff's Office, said.

Ensinger's supervisors were dispatched to check on him and when they arrived, they found him sitting inside of his patrol car on the 100 block of Navasota Street with the motor on.

"When he went to talk to him to ask him how he was, was something wrong, he detected an odor of alcohol," Littleton said. "On further checking of the vehicle, the sergeant found a backpack with a bottle of vodka in it and some of the vodka had been consumed."

Supervisors also found an empty bottle of prescription medicine. Ensinger was arrested and charged with D.W.I. He was taken to the Bastrop County Jail where he later posted bond.

This isn't the first on-duty, alcohol-related incident concerning Ensinger. In September 2015, when he showed up for work a sergeant smelled alcohol on his breath. According to the Sheriff's Office, Ensinger told supervisors he had been drinking the night before and that the smell of alcohol was residual. Ensigner added that he "had a mental lapse." Something  the Sheriff's Office said they addressed.

"We had taken action on that." Littleton said, "The officer was in counseling, if you will, he was making some meetings and reporting back to us. We've been monitoring that as we go."

Ensinger has been with the Sheriff's Office since  May of 2015, first working as a jailer. He moved from the jail to patrol in September of the same year. Just days prior to his first alcohol incident.

The Bastrop County Sheriff's Office said Ensinger will remain on administrative leave until an internal investigation has been completed. Stating that could take less than a week to complete.

Not only is his future as a deputy in question so too are his chances in the upcoming election, where he is running for the Precinct 3 County Commissioners seat. As of Friday night, he is still running for office.
 

FOX 7 obtained the following press release from The Bastrop County Sheriff's Office.

On 01-29-2016 at approximately 8:30am Sheriff’s Office dispatchers alerted the on duty patrol supervisor, Sgt. James Davenport, as to concerns about the welfare of patrol deputy Fred Ensinger who was on duty at the time. Dispatchers stated that Deputy Ensinger’s speech was slurred and he was not making sense in his conversation.

Sgt. Davenport and Deputy Hurtado promptly responded and met with Deputy Ensinger near 143 Navasota Street in Bastrop County.

Sgt. Davenport made contact with Deputy Ensinger who was sitting in the driver seat of his assigned marked patrol vehicle and detected an odor of alcohol emitting from Ensinger’s breath as he spoke.

Sgt. Davenport conducted a search of the county owned Sheriff’s patrol vehicle and discovered an open quart sized bottle of vodka in an open backpack, belonging to Ensinger, in the front passenger seat. Also found with the alcohol was an empty bottle of prescription medication.

Deputy Ensinger was relieved of duty and transported to the Sheriff’s Office where a search warrant for a blood specimen was obtained and executed. Deputy Ensinger was subsequently booked into Bastrop County Jail for the charge of Driving While Intoxicated w/ Open Container.

Bail was set at $10,000 and he was released on his own recognizance (PR Bond).

Deputy Ensinger has been employed with the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office since May 2015 where he started as a jailer. He transferred to the patrol division in September 2015 and is currently assigned to the 6:00am – 6:00pm patrol shift.

At a time prior to working for the Sheriff’s Office Ensinger was a Game Warden for Texas Parks and Wildlife.