No charges being filed in Douglas County Commissioner altercation at Lake Tahoe

There will be no criminal charges filed relating to the altercation between Douglas County Commission Chairman Barry Penzel and Commissioner John Engels during their May 16 in Lake Tahoe.

According to law enforcement reports, the altercation took place in a closed side room adjacent to the conference room where the meeting was being held. Penzel and Engels were alone in the room at the time. Just moments before Penzel had called for a recess after the commissioners were making personal attacks between each other and to members of the public.

Carson City District Attorney Jason Woodbury was asked to review the criminal investigation by Douglas County District Attorney Mark Jackson due to the Douglas County D.A.’s conflict of interest in the matter.

Woodbury said his decision to not file charges was based on a lack of evidence establishing proof of criminal conduct by either commissioner.

“In this kind of case, we would only file charges if there was a reasonable probability of criminal conviction," said Woodbury. "Mr. Penzel and Mr. Engels were the only eyewitnesses to the incident. There is no dispute that there was an altercation between the two. However, there is a dispute about who initiated the physical contact. Each claims the other was the primary aggressor and initiated physical violence.”

Woodbury said his office “looked everywhere we could” for independent corroboration
about what had occurred. “Sometimes non-percipient witnesses or circumstantial evidence help us get to the bottom of an incident,” he explained. “My investigator interviewed several witnesses who were in the area, just outside the closed room where this occurred. We also reviewed video of the Commission’s meeting and the body camera footage of the responding Sheriff’s deputies.”

Despite the additional investigation, Woodbury said criminal charges are not
warranted. “Based on the evidence, the accounts of both men are equally plausible. There is no reasonable probability that either would be convicted if we prosecuted this case, so my office will not be filing charges."

A message was left with Douglas County for comment.