25-year-old Appleton woman charged with intoxicated driving homicide for crash in Menasha

OSHKOSH – An Appleton woman faces charges for driving while intoxicated and causing a fatal crash July 13 in Menasha that killed a 27-year-old man.

Amanda Wolfgram, 25, is charged in Winnebago County Circuit Court with eight felonies: one count of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, one count of knowingly operating a vehicle while a license was revoked, one count of OWI causing injury, four counts of felony bail jumping and one count of possessing THC.

Because she had a previous OWI conviction from 2017, Wolfgram may face enhanced penalties on the homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle charge and the OWI causing injury charge. A previous conviction for drug possession also enhances the possession of THC charge to a felony.

Wolfgram is scheduled to appear in court for further proceedings at 11:45 a.m. Monday and for her preliminary hearing at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

An initial investigation found Wolfgram was driving northbound on DePere Street when her vehicle crossed the center line and struck a southbound vehicle head-on, according to the City of Menasha Police Department .

According to a criminal complaint, law enforcement and paramedics were dispatched to the area of Third Street and DePere Street around 8:07 p.m. July 13. Upon arrival, they located two vehicles stopped in the southbound lanes of DePere street with airbags deployed and heavy damage to their fronts.

Wolfgram, the sole occupant of a Ford Focus, had a wrist injury and cuts to her arms and legs. When officers spoke to her, she had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes, the complaint says.

The other vehicle, a Chevrolet Traverse SUV, had three occupants. The front passenger, a 27-year-old man, was unconscious and bleeding from his head, the complaint states. The driver, a 53-year-old woman, and a 10-year-old backseat passenger had injuries that were not life-threatening, according to the police department.

The man was transported to a hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. He died of his injuries days later, on July 17.

Inside Wolfgram's car on the night of the crash, officers located a clear plastic bag of what they believe was marijuana, as well as other drug items including THC gummies and a container of a "brown waxy substance mixed with a crystalline substance" that tested positive for both THC and amphetamine or methamphetamine, the complaint states.

Wolfgram's blood alcohol concentration level was 0.11%, according to the complaint. The legal driving limit in Wisconsin is 0.08%.

In an interview from the hospital, Wolfgram told investigators she had been driving from Jitters Bar, located at 23 Main St. in Menasha, to "decompress" due to "issues with her boyfriend," the complaint states.

Wolfgram told officers she had three mixed drinks and smoked marijuana, then got behind the wheel, according to the complaint.

Investigators reviewed surveillance footage from Jitters Bar, which showed Wolfgram at the bar from about 6:45 p.m. until just after 8 p.m., when she left the bar and began walking eastbound on a sidewalk. She "appeared unsteady on her feet," the complaint says.

Other surveillance video from City Hall, at 100 Main St. in Menasha, showed what officers believed to be Wolfgram's vehicle headed eastbound down Main Street from the direction of Jitters Bar in the wrong lane of traffic.

During the course of the investigation, someone reported their parked vehicle had been struck while it was parked overnight on July 13. Surveillance video from Weathervane Restaurant, at 186 Main St., showed a car matching the description of Wolfgram's crash into the back of a black SUV before continuing east down Main Street. Investigators said it seemed to match the timing of the vehicle seen in other surveillance footage.

The 53-year-old woman who was driving the vehicle Wolfgram struck told investigators before the crash, she had stopped at the Kwik Trip off of Highway 47 near Midway Road. As they returned to the road, the woman said she and the man were discussing "being careful so as not to stall the vehicle due to the high water on the streets" as they approached the light at DePere Street and Third Street, when she saw lights from a car and "heard a big bang and realized they crashed," the complaint says.

At the time of the crash, Wolfgram was out on bond for two cases: a Waupaca County case from June in which she was charged with possession of THC as a repeat offense, possession of amphetamine, LSD or Psilocin as a repeat offense, possessing an illegally obtained prescription and misdemeanor bail jumping; and a Calumet County case from February in which she was charged with operating a vehicle while her license was revoked.

If Wolfgram is convicted of the homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle charge, she faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison — unless "the court finds a compelling reason" to give a lesser sentence — and a maximum of 40 years in prison .

Each of the other charges Wolfgram faces carry a maximum of six years in prison, except possession of THC as a repeat offense, which carries a maximum of 3½ years in prison.

Contact Kelli Arseneau at 920-213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com . Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @ArseneauKelli .

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: 25-year-old Appleton woman charged with intoxicated driving homicide for crash in Menasha