Union Grove fatal crash; woman accused of driving drunk, causing death

UNION GROVE, Wis. - A 36-year-old Union Grove woman faces multiple charges tied to a rollover crash that killed a man in Racine County last October. The accused is Kristi Lichtenwalner – and she faces the following criminal counts: 

• Homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle
• Operating a motor vehicle while under the influence-4th offense
• Operating with prohibited alcohol concentration-4th offense

According to the criminal complaint, deputies from the Racine County Sheriff's Office were dispatched late on Oct. 2, 2022, to a rollover crash on Durand Avenue just east of 67th Drive. When the deputies arrived, they found an SUV laying on its roof in the ditch -- approximately ten feet off the road. The owner of the SUV was laying about 30 feet from the vehicle unresponsive. He was later pronounced deceased on the scene.

A few feet from the SUV's owner were two women -- one, the defendant, "appeared to be in great distress, crying and screaming," the complaint says. When a deputy attempted to talk with Lichtenwalner, the complaint says "he could smell the odor of intoxicants."

When a deputy searched the SUV, he confirmed there was no one else inside. But "he observed an opened bottle of Ole Smoky Tennessee Whiskey inside of a purse," the complaint says.

Lichtenwalner was taken to a hospital for treatment. While there, a deputy "asked her numerous times whether she was driving the Cadillac, and she said no," the complaint says. The defendant said the SUV's owner was driving and "that the two of them were not fighting prior to the incident and that she did not know why the crash occurred," the complaint says. Lichtenwalner told the deputy she was not wearing her seat belt and that the SUV's owner had been drinking "quite a bit." During this conversation, the deputy noted the defendant's "speech was slurred," the complaint says.

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On Oct. 6, investigators served a search warrant to obtain the blood draw conducted on Lichtenwalner on the date of the crash.

The complaint says on Oct. 26, a search warrant was used to download data from the SUV's airbag control module. A deputy also searched the interior and exterior of the vehicle for "additional evidence noting that stains appearing to be blood" were in the SUV," the complaint says. The parts of the vehicle that contained that evidence were cut out -- and taken to a crime lab for analysis. The deputy also "located a long strand of hair embedded in a shattered area of the front driver side window." The hair was removed in several pieces.

During the investigation, the complaint says deputies learned "a witness observed (the SUV's owner) and Lichtenwalner switch seats and Lichtenwalner get into the driver's seat before driving away." The vehicle was also seen on a surveillance camera at a local liquor store where (the witness) is seen exiting the passenger seat, buying some items, then returning to the passenger seat before the vehicle leaves. The vehicle is seen on numerous surveillance cameras while en route to the crash site," the complaint says. Deputies concluded "this leaves little to no time to allow Lichtenwalner and (the SUV's owner) to switch seats a second time."

On July 30, 2023, investigators received DNA results that were previously submitted to the crime lab. The complaint says the "blood stain in the center of the airbag was tested and tested positive only to Lichtenwalner." The complaint also notes that "Lichtenwalner had an abrasion to the bridge of her nose after the accident....this is consistent with injuries commonly associated with being struck by an airbag during a motor vehicle accident."

Investigators met with Lichtenwalner again on Aug. 1, 2023. They began reviewing some of the evidence that had been collected during the course of the investigation. When they talked about still images of the vehicle from the route footage, as well as the DNA results from the crime lab, they asked once again who was driving the vehicle. The complaint says "she responded something to the effect of needing to talk to her attorney."

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Lichtenwalner made her initial appearance in Racine County court on Wednesday, Aug. 2. Cash bond was set at $25,000.