Background: News footage of surveillance video of Jenni Fischer”s vehicle from the night of the alleged hit-and-run (WTMJ). Inset: Jenni Fischer (Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office).
Authorities in Wisconsin have arrested a woman accused of attempting to file a fraudulent insurance claim following a hit-and-run incident.
Jenni Fischer, aged 24, faces charges of hit-and-run causing great bodily harm for her alleged involvement in a collision that left a 26-year-old Lyft driver in a coma. Law enforcement identified Fischer’s vehicle after she reportedly sought to claim insurance for her Jeep SUV two days post-collision, as reported by Law&Crime. In her insurance filing, Fischer claimed she discovered significant damage to her vehicle, including a “smashed” right side, a “cracked” windshield, and a “broken” rearview mirror upon returning to her workplace parking lot.
However, surveillance footage from the night of the accident allegedly contradicts her account, showing Fischer’s Jeep “sideswiping” the Lyft driver.
The Milwaukee Police Department responded to the crash site at approximately 8:40 p.m. on December 1. Numerous 911 calls reported a pedestrian, identified as the Lyft driver, being struck in what appeared to be a hit-and-run. The driver was found unconscious but breathing, suffering from severe head trauma, and was subsequently rushed to a nearby hospital.
Police reports indicate that the driver has since undergone two brain surgeries and remains in a coma, with his condition deteriorating.
Officers noted the extensive damage to the driver’s white Nissan Sentra, describing the driver’s side door as “mangled and crushed backwards,” which aligned with evidence of a “sideswipe” collision. Surveillance footage helped investigators identify the suspect vehicle as a white or gray SUV, seen with only its running lights on at the time of the incident.
Closer inspection of the surveillance video pointed to the suspect vehicle being a Jeep Compass. Investigators searched for insurance claims made for a Jeep Compass in recent days and found one made on Dec. 3, two days after the crash. The VIN provided for the Jeep in question was tracked back to Fischer. But that claim required a police report.
When Milwaukee Police Department officers looked into reports filed with the department, they found one through the Citizen Online Reporting portal, which is meant to be used for minor crimes such as theft or vandalism, not motor vehicle crashes. Police found a report matching the number Fischer provided to the insurance company, filed on Dec. 2, the day after the crash.
According to the complaint, Fischer wrote in the report that she came out of work on Dec. 1 and found her Jeep damaged in the parking lot.
The allegedly false police report led officers to Fischer’s home address. Police obtained surveillance video footage from the parking structure connected with the address and saw the gray Jeep, with just its running lights on, entering the structure and pull into a spot at 8:41 p.m. on Dec. 1. A blonde woman in a green coat, later identified as Fischer, appears on the video “having difficulty” walking up a flight of stairs and “coming in contact with both sides of the staircase at various points in time.” Fischer also dropped her keys as she tried to enter the building’s lobby.
While in the lobby, Fischer reportedly “lean[ed] against the wall” until an elevator arrived.
The next morning, Fischer was seen walking back to her Jeep and “[did] not appear to have difficulty walking down the stairs.”
On Dec. 6, police went to an address belonging to Fischer’s parents. Fischer’s mother confirmed that her daughter had been involved in a car crash, but cited the story from the allegedly false police report. She brought the officers to a barn where Fischer’s Jeep was parked. Officers found damage consistent with the crash as well as white paint from the Lyft driver’s Nissan. The Jeep was towed as evidence.
Officers showed Fischer’s mother the surveillance video from the collision, to which she responded, “Jesus Christ.” She told police to cancel the insurance claim made by her daughter “as it was not true.”
Both Fischer’s mother and father identified their daughter as the woman in the green coat. Fischer was arrested at her parents’ house on Dec. 7.
Fischer was booked into the Milwaukee County Jail and charged with hit-and-run involving great bodily harm and making a fraudulent insurance claim. After a court hearing on Dec. 11, her bond was set at $20,000 cash. Her next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 17.
