CHARLES CITY – A Charles City man twice-charged with felony drunk driving and has been on probation while paying many thousands of dollars to Iowa courts allegedly drove his Lincoln Navigator into a parked car, then ran from the scene when the owner confronted him.
According to Charles City police, on April 8, 2025, officers with the Charles City police department went to the 700 block of South Grand Avenue to investigate a vehicle hit and run. They say a gray Ford F-150 owned by Scott Heinz of Charles City was legally parked and struck by a black Lincoln Navigator driven by 27-year-old Michael Lensing of Charles City. Heinz allegedly confronted Lensing and then Lensing drove away from the scene. Police said Lensing was not immediately located.
However, on April 13, Lensing was charged with leave scene of accident – property damage only by Charles City police.
NIT previously reported that Lensing (pictured at top) has a history or drunk driving:
On October 15, 2020, the Bremer County Sheriff’s Office stopped to check on a vehicle on the side of a road. Further investigation led to the arrest of 22-year-old Michael Lensing of Charles City for felony third-offense operating while intoxicated. He was guilty of felony D operating while intoxicated and was sentenced on March 31, 2021, to 5 years in prison (suspended), 5 years of probation and was ordered to pay Iowa courts $10,369.75.
On October 22, 2020, Lensing was arrested by the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office on charges of felony third-offense operating while intoxicated and interference with official acts. He pleaded guilty to second-offense operating while intoxicated. He was sentenced to 7 days in jail and ordered to pay Iowa courts $2,256.25.
On March 21, 2024, Lensing was nabbed by the Floyd county sheriff’s office and charged with felony third-offense operating while intoxicated. Despite still being on probation, Lensing was able to plead down to second-offense operating while intoxicated. He was sentenced to 365 days in jail (all but 5 days suspended) and granted work release privileges and 60 days to serve the sentence, by judge Elizabeth Batey, who also dismissed a charge of driving with a revoked license. However, she did find him guilty of tampering with an ignition device, which cost him 2 days in jail. He was also ordered to pay Iowa courts $6,650.00.