By Shereen Siewert
A 37-year-old Wausau man who crashed his motorcycle on the Scott Street Bridge while driving with a revoked license will spend an additional two years in prison, after his sentencing Monday in Marathon County Circuit Court.
Jared M. Kreft was on extended supervision stemming from this fifth drunken-driving conviction at the time of the crash, which happened in the early morning hours of Aug. 2, 2020.
A witness told police she was on her way home from work, approaching the intersection of North First and Scott Streets at about 30 mph when a motorcycle passed her at a high rate of speed. The driver then lost control of the motorcycle and crashed, the witness said.
Prosecutors said Kreft was unresponsive when the witness called 911, but when help arrived he was awake, yelling at people who stopped to assist him. Pieces of a motorcycle were scattered throughout Scott Street with skid marks leading to the concrete wall on the south side of the bridge.
Kreft was seriously injured in the crash and was transported to Aspirus Wausau Hospital for emergency treatment. A portion of Scott Street was shut down for about 90 minutes to clear the scene.
On Monday, Kreft was convicted on charges of sixth-offense operating while intoxicated and was sentenced to two years in prison, time that will be tacked onto the sentence he is currently serving on his prior OWI charge. Circuit Judge Suzanne O’Neill also ordered Kreft to spend four years on extended supervision and pay a $3,976 fine.
Court records show Kreft has a long criminal history, most of which involve drug and alcohol-related offenses. He was arrested in 2014 on bestiality charges after he was allegedly discovered in a town of Wausau barn performing a sex act on a horse. In that case, Kreft pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, a plea he withdrew as part of an agreement with prosecutors. A charge of sexual gratification with an animal sex organ was ultimately dismissed but read into the record when Kreft was convicted of drug possession.
In 2017, Kreft was convicted of his fourth OWI within four years, a felony, and was given a withheld sentence with probation and jail time. But one year later, his probation was revoked when he was arrested and convicted of a fifth OWI. This time, he was sentenced to three years in prison followed by two years of extended supervision. He was released from prison less than a year before the August crash.
