Brian Sippel has been charged in connection with a fatal Jan. 14, 2023, drunken driving crash in Fond du Lac County. PC: Fox 11 Online
FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The suspect in a fatal drunk driving crash was ordered Friday to stand trial.
Brian Sippel, 56, faces seven charges, including homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, for the Jan. 14 crash on I-41.
Sippel waived a preliminary hearing Friday. His arraignment has not been scheduled yet, according to a court official.
Sippel allegedly hit a car from behind in his pick-up truck. His front license plate was eventually found in the front seat of the car, according to the criminal complaint.
As a result of the crash, the car then hit an SUV, which only sustained minor damage.
The driver of the car was pronounced dead on the scene, and the passenger was transported to an area hospital with critical injuries. Neither victim’s names were released in the criminal complaint, but the driver was identified as a man and the passenger as a woman.
Sippel, who said he “felt like he was hit by a truck,” was also transported to the hospital.
While there, he was interviewed by Fond du Lac County deputies.
During that interview, Sippel claimed he left work around 6:30 p.m., though the crash occurred before that time. He said he had one Bloody Mary in St. Cloud between 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. — again after the crash took place.
Sippel was previously convicted of drunk driving in 2004 and 2016.
He now faces charges for homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle while having prior intoxicated related conviction, homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle with prohibited alcohol concentration (blood alcohol content of .08 or more) while having prior intoxicated related conviction, injury by intoxicated of a vehicle, injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle with a PAC and three counts of first-degree reckless endangering safety — all of these charges are felonies.
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