Tacoma police say second vehicle struck trooper who died Friday on SR-509
A Washington State Patrol trooper who was killed Friday night by a passing vehicle was hit not once, but twice, according to the Tacoma Police Department, the agency charged with investigating the incident.
About 7:25 p.m. Friday, Trooper Tara-Marysa Guting, 29, was struck by a vehicle while investigating an unrelated collision on the on-ramp to southbound state Route 509 from Port of Tacoma Road, Tacoma police said in a news release.
“The initial impact caused the trooper to be thrown into the right travel lane of southbound SR-509, where the trooper was incapacitated and lying motionless in the roadway,” the release reads.
A short time later a second vehicle, believed to be a dark-colored pickup truck, struck the trooper in the right lane and continued south on SR-509, according to the release.
The driver of the first vehicle that hit Guting remained at the scene and was not arrested, Chris Loftis, WSP’s director of public affairs, previously said.
The vehicle is thought to be a four-door Chevrolet Avalanche or a four-door Cadillac Escalade EXT-style pickup. It also may have tinted windows, chrome door handles and chrome running boards. No license plate information is available, according to Tacoma police.
Anyone with information or video of the second vehicle is asked to contact investigators through Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477. Crime Stoppers is also offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information that leads to an arrest and charges filed.
