Suspected drunken driver called Uber after causing fatal wreck on I-5, charges say
A woman suspected of driving drunk in the early hours of Thanksgiving Day on Interstate 5 in Tacoma and colliding with another vehicle, killing a 67-year-old passenger, has been charged.
Marina Cherevach, 25, was charged Monday in Pierce County Superior Court with vehicular homicide and failure to remain at an accident resulting in death.
Cherevach is charged in the death of Lakewood resident Kimberly Rokpeter, who was in the backseat of a Lexus sedan on southbound Interstate 5 when prosecutors say Cherevach’s Jeep Wrangler collided with the rear of the sedan.
The crash occurred about 2:20 a.m. near Portland Avenue, Washington State Patrol said. Rokpeter died at the scene, and the car’s driver and front passenger were transported to the hospital for minor injuries.
Prosecutors noted in charging documents that Rokpeter wasn’t wearing a seat belt when the crash occurred and may have been lying down in the backseat.
Cherevach’s Jeep was found abandoned about a mile from the crash.
When troopers located Cherevach later Thursday morning and asked her about the collision, she said she was cut off on the interstate and her airbag deployed. She said she pulled to the shoulder and called an Uber.
Cherevach submitted to a portable breath test, which showed her blood-alcohol content at .148, above the legal limit of .08.
Charging documents gave this account:
State troopers responded about 2:20 a.m. to a report of a hit-and-run collision on southbound Interstate 5 near Portland Avenue. There, troopers found a gold Lexus sedan with severe rear-end damage.
A man and his husband were in the front of the car. Their friend, Rokpeter, was in the back, and according to the declaration for determination of probable cause.
Witnesses described the vehicle that hit the sedan as a dark-colored Jeep Wrangler. About a mile down the interstate, troopers found the vehicle parked on the right shoulder. According to the probable cause statement, the vehicle had gold paint chips lodged into its grill.
A wallet was found on the floor of the Jeep with a driver’s license belonging to Cherevach. Prosecutors wrote that a record check showed the vehicle was registered to a woman who was later identified as Cherevach’s mother.
Troopers spoke to Cherevach’s mother at an address in Auburn the vehicle was registered to. She told troopers she last saw her daughter Wednesday night and that she was driving to the Seattle Kraken hockey game.
Cherevach’s sister helped troopers locate her using an app which showed the woman’s phone was at an address in Lakewood, according to the probable cause statement.
Troopers spoke to Cherevach there later Thursday morning and noted she smelled of “intoxicants.”
A blood draw was taken from Cherevach at the hospital at about 9:40 a.m. Results from the tests are pending.
