A woman wanted in connection with an August hit-and-run that left a pedestrian with multiple fractures in a Menasha parking lot has been arrested in Missouri, and now faces extradition back to Wisconsin. Kathleen A. Clapper, born July 22, 1978, was taken into custody by the Farmington Police Department on October 1 after investigators say she fled the state following the crash.
The incident unfolded on August 24, when Menasha police were dispatched to the parking lot of Lake Park Swim & Fitness at 730 Lake Park Road, according to Fox Crossing Parks & Recreation. A pedestrian was struck by a vehicle there and suffered multiple fractures, contusions and lacerations, police said. As reported by Fox 11 News, investigators later identified Clapper as the driver and said she left the state after the crash.
With Clapper's whereabouts unknown, her vehicle was entered into the Transaction Information for Management of Enforcement system as wanted, a statewide system. That listing paid off when license plate reader technology provided information to the Farmington Police Department, leading to her arrest in Farmington, Missouri, on October 1, per the same Fox 11 News account. Farmington's department operated 13 Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras as of September 2025, according to the Atlas of Surveillance.
Charges Recommended, Extradition Looms
Menasha police have recommended charges of aggravated battery, first-degree reckless injury and hit-and-run involving a vehicle, with the recommendation submitted to the Calumet County District Attorney's Office. First-degree reckless injury is a Class D felony in Wisconsin requiring prosecutors to prove the defendant acted with utter disregard for human life, carrying up to 25 years in prison and fines up to $100,000, according to Chirafisi Anderson, S.C. The hit-and-run charge itself is a Class E felony under Wisconsin law when leaving the scene results in great bodily harm, punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment and a $50,000 fine, per Cafferty, Scheidegger & Johnson, S.C.
Clapper is now awaiting extradition back to Wisconsin, a process governed by the state's adoption of the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act. Under that law, out-of-state suspects arrested on felony warrants must either formally waive extradition before a judge or undergo a governor's warrant proceeding before being legally transferred, and a suspect may contest extradition in the asylum state before any transfer occurs, according to Justia.
Police Praise Cross-State Cooperation
Menasha Police Chief Matthew Albrecht said public safety is and will always remain a top priority for the agency, and that the department is committed to acting when conduct threatens the safety and well-being of others. Albrecht said the investigation highlights the value of license plate reader technology, and the department thanked the Farmington Police Department, noting that the partnership between the two agencies was critical because the case extended across jurisdictional lines.
A Tense Local Backdrop for License Plate Cameras
The praise for license plate readers lands amid a very different conversation back home. Just weeks earlier, in September, Menasha Mayor Austin Hammond ordered all of the city's own Flock Safety cameras covered and petitioned the Common Council to terminate its contract with the vendor, citing privacy and data-sharing concerns, according to WTAQ-WLUK. The order followed the August 17 sentencing of former Menasha officer Cristian Morales, who received six months in jail and three years of probation for misconduct in office after using the city's Flock system to track his ex-girlfriend, as reported by WHBY. Menasha's department had operated eight of the cameras as of July 2026 before city leaders moved to shut the program down, per the Atlas of Surveillance.
