A minivan driver accused of fatally hitting a motorcyclist in Tacoma has been charged
A minivan driver in Tacoma has been charged.
Theresa Lynn Ruffner, 62, pleaded not guilty at arraignment Monday to vehicular homicide and vehicular assault.
Court records allege she’d been drinking Saturday before the wreck that killed 24-year-old Caire Cotton.
Pierce County Superior Court Commissioner Sabrina Ahrens set bail at $100,000.
Charging papers give this account:
The wreck happened about 6 p.m. on southbound I-5, near the merge with Interstate 705.
Cotton and his disabled 2005 Suzuki motorcycle were in the gore point.
Ruffner hit him and the bike when she crossed the gore point to get onto I-5 in a Ford minivan.
The minivan then was rear-ended by a Ford Focus.
A passenger in the Focus suffered a fractured sternum and ribs.
A trooper smelled intoxicants while standing outside the minivan driver’s door. When asked, Ruffner allegedly said she’d had “a couple glasses of wine at the casino.”
Her preliminary breath test registered at 0.2, above the legal limit of 0.08.
Deputy prosecutor Tim Jones told the court Ruffner had a DUI in 2009 that was reduced to first-degree negligent driving in Thurston County.
Cotton’s loved ones were visibility distraught in court Monday. Jones said some family members traveled from Texas for the proceedings.
They sobbed, shouted and physically supported each other as the hearing ended. Cotton had children, some called out.
A State Patrol release about the wreck identified both Cotton and Ruffner as Tacoma residents.
This story was originally published August 5, 2019 at 4:40 PM.
