NAJAM, J.
In this appeal, Curtis Outlaw asserts that the State failed to present sufficient evidence to support his conviction of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, as a Class A misdemeanor. We reverse.
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Outlaw contends that the State failed to present any evidence on the element of endangerment, which is the element necessary to elevate the conviction from a Class C to a Class A misdemeanor. The element of endangerment can be established by evidence showing that the defendant’s condition or operating manner could have endangered any person, including the public, the police, or the defendant. Staley v. State, 895 N.E.2d 1245, 1249 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008) (citing Blinn v. State, 677 N.E.2d 51, 54 5 (Ind. Ct. App. 1997)), trans. denied. Endangerment does not require that a person other than the defendant be in the path of the defendant’s vehicle or in the same area to obtain a conviction. Id. at 1251 (citing State v. Krohn, 521 N.E.2d 374, 377 (Ind. Ct. App. 1988)).
To prove endangerment, the State here relied on its evidence that Outlaw was intoxicated. . . . The State cannot claim that this same evidence proves the additional element of endangerment. In 2001, the General Assembly substantially altered the OWI statues by redefining intoxication and establishing two separate misdemeanor classes for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. I.C. § 9-13-2-86; P.L. 175-2001 § 1 (eff. July 1, 2001); I.C. § 9-30-5-2; P.L. 175-2001 § 6 (eff. July 1, 2001). The effect of those changes was to remove the “endangerment” requirement from the general definition of intoxication and create the new offense of Class C misdemeanor OWI without an endangerment requirement. The statutes retained the Class A misdemeanor OWI offense, which requires a showing of endangerment. Indiana Code Section 9-30-5-2(b) now states, “An offense described in subsection (a) is a Class A misdemeanor if the person operates a vehicle in a manner that endangers a person.” By definition, the current statute requires more than intoxication to prove endangerment. See, e.g., Vanderlinden v. State, ___ N.E.2d ___, No. 49A02-0905-CR-417 (Ind. Ct. App. Dec. 18, 2009).
We acknowledge that prior decisions of this court have suggested that a showing of intoxication, without more, is adequate to prove endangerment. See, e.g., Slate v. State, 798 N.E.2d 510, 515 (Ind. Ct. App. 2003) (stating that “the endangerment element . . . indicates the level of impairment and the extent of lost faculties that must be shown to establish intoxication and to obtain a conviction”); Dunkley v. State, 787 N.E.2d 962, 965 (Ind. Ct. App. 2003) (“The endangerment element was further established by [the defendant’s impaired] condition.”). Insofar as those cases conflate the definition of endangerment with that of intoxication, the amended statutes supplant them and, as such, we do not follow them.
Thus, we hold that the State was required to submit proof of “endangerment” that went beyond mere intoxication in order for the defendant to be convicted of operating while intoxicated, as a Class A misdemeanor. Here, the traffic stop of Outlaw’s vehicle was based on a non-illuminated license plate rather than erratic or unlawful driving, and no evidence other than the intoxication suggests that Outlaw was operating his motor vehicle in a manner that would endanger himself, his three passengers, or any other person. [Footnote omitted.] Indeed, the State concedes that “there is no evidence that [Outlaw] operated his vehicle in an unsafe manner . . . .” . . . Hence, the State failed to present sufficient evidence that Outlaw operated his vehicle while intoxicated in a manner that endangered a person, and we must reverse his conviction.
KIRSCH, J., and BARNES, J., concur.