Charges allege drunken driver in fatal Wis. crash told trooper she was relapsed alcoholic
HUDSON, Wis. -- A woman now facing a homicidal drunken driving charge in a crash that killed a local heavy metal guitarist told a trooper she was an alcoholic who had relapsed before a wedding, charges allege.
Amber Pospisil, 31, is charged with homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle and two counts of second-degree recklessly endangering safety, St. Croix County court documents show.
The fatal crash occurred on Interstate 94 near Hudson, Wisconsin, early Sunday. A criminal complaint states a caller alerted authorities to a driver going the wrong way on the freeway. Minutes later, a four-vehicle crash occurred.
Two vehicles had heavy front-end damage. A woman later identified as Pospisil was in the driver's seat of one of them. A man later identified as Mark Filbrandt occupied the other. Filbrandt was unresponsive, and after medics arrived, they pronounced him dead.
No one in the other two vehicles was injured.
According to the complaint, the trooper noticed Pospisil was slurring her speech, smelled of alcohol and was having trouble standing. They also found an empty bottle of vodka in her car, per the charges. The trooper ran her through field sobriety tests and noted further signs of impairment.
When the trooper interviewed Pospisil, she said she was an alcoholic and was coming from a wedding, the complaint alleges. She allegedly told the trooper she did not know how much she had to drink and did not remember going the wrong way on the freeway.
Pospisil was taken into custody, brought to a hospital and later transferred to the St. Croix County Jail.
Court documents show Pospisil pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated in Douglas County, Minnesota, last year. Her sentence was stayed and she was ordered not to drink alcohol.
The homicidal drunken driving charge she now faces carries a maximum sentence of 40 years.
Filbrandt was heading home from a show in Wisconsin with his band, Gorrified, when the crash occurred. Their new album will be dedicated to the late guitarist.
