Woman gets probation, fine for drunken driving incident in which she rammed car 20 times

WILLMAR -- A 26-year-old Raymond woman pleaded guilty and was sentenced Tuesday on gross misdemeanor property damage and driving while impaired charges for a Jan. 2 incident in which she used her Cadillac to ram her boyfriend's car 20 times, pushing it into a garage door and another vehicle.

As part of a plea agreement in Kandiyohi County District Court, the property damage charge was reduced from a felony and Amanda Joy Sietsema was sentenced to two years of probation, 365 days in the county jail, with all but 10 days stayed, and a $3,000 fine, with $2,500 stayed.

She was also ordered to serve 30 days in jail, with the remaining 335 days stayed, another $3,000 fine, with $2,500 stayed and two years of probation on the driving while impaired charge.

As part of a plea agreement, two other gross misdemeanor charges of driving while impaired were dismissed. She was also ordered to write a letter of apology, attend victim offender mediation, attend a MADD impact panel, obtain her driver's license and commit no driver's license violations.

According to the complaint on the property damage charge, a man called Willmar police around 11:10 p.m. Jan. 2 to Par Lane, where he said Sietsema had rammed her 1998 Cadillac into his Chrysler, which damaged a garage door and another vehicle parked inside the garage.

According to the officer's report on the driving while impaired charges, the man said Sietsema had come to the front door and lay on the floor until he physically dragged her outside and left her in the front yard.

He later became concerned about her wellbeing and went to check on her, and observed her ramming her car into his car.

He said she rammed the car 20 times and then left.

She was apprehended later and arrested after a preliminary breath test showed a blood-alcohol content of 0.216 percent.

The report also states that Sietsema had to be removed from the squad car, refused to submit to an Intoxilyzer test, plugged her ears with her fingers while the officer read her Miranda warning and made suggestive comments to the community service officer who was accompanying the officer.