He chased a car that crashed, killing a woman, court records say. Now he’s been charged
A man is accused of running a Subaru off the road, resulting in a three-car crash in Pierce County last week that led to the death of a 64-year-old woman.
Steven Putney, 29, was charged with vehicular homicide and failure to remain at an accident resulting in death for the Jan. 17 crash that led to the death of Mary Delreco, who was a backseat passenger in the Subaru. Her daughter, who was critically injured, was the Subaru’s driver.
A plea of not guilty was entered on Putney’s behalf during his arraignment in Pierce County Superior Court on Friday. A court commissioner set his bail at $500,000, court records show.
Fatal crash details
About 6:05 p.m. on the day of the wreck, deputies arrived at a collision on 176th Street East in Pierce County. The crash involved the Subaru, Putney’s Econoline van and a pickup, according to charging documents.
Two witnesses said they saw the van following the Subaru, which ran a red light. The vehicles ran a second red light before the Subaru struck a truck in the intersection. The van most likely bumped the Subaru after impact. The driver of the van, later identified as Putney, drove off.
Matthew Rousseau also was in the Subaru.
“And not many people knew that I was in the car because after the crash I saw that he was driving straight at me, and I jumped out the way and I ran for my life. And I hid and I was so scared to even come forward or anything,” Rousseau told The News Tribune in a Jan. 24 story.
Delreco died at the scene, and her daughter was taken to Tacoma General Hospital for serious injuries. A man and son who were in the pickup were not injured, charging documents show.
The Subaru was registered to Putney. Putney reported to 911 that his Subaru was stolen and that he was chasing it at the time of the crash. Dispatch advised him to return to the crash scene, but he said he could not return, claiming someone stole his Econoline van, prosecutors wrote.
Deputies do not suspect drugs or alcohol as a factor in the crash, prosecutors wrote.
Prosecutors wrote that on Jan. 18 Putney went to Tacoma General to contact the woman who’d been driving the Subaru. He was driving the van at the time of the visit. Putney allegedly “raised red flags” with security and drove off in the van. On Jan. 21, deputies located his van and seized it.
Deputies spoke to Rousseau who said that Putney was romantically involved with the woman who’d been driving the Subaru. He said the Subaru was not stolen because the driver had Putney’s permission to drive it. Before the crash, he claimed that Putney had seen Rousseau in the Subaru and became jealous.
Rousseau told deputies that Putney was driving aggressively and attempted to “run them off the road.” He blocked them in and men exited his van with bats, hitting the Subaru. Rousseau said that the woman driving the Subaru sped off and ran several red lights because of the chase. Then the driver crashed into the pickup and Putney allegedly slammed his van into the Subaru, prosecutors wrote.
Deputies interviewed the driver on Jan. 22 at the hospital. She said that she did not know why Putney was allegedly trying to run her off the road that day. She had been with Delreco and Rousseau at a house prior to the wreck. Putney told her to return to his home in Eatonville and he would follow. She said that on the way to the home, she slowed to wait for Putney to catch up to her, prosecutors wrote.
The driver said that once Putney caught up to her, she was blocked in. Two men in Putney’s van got out and began hitting the Subaru with baseball bats. She drove off with Putney following. Soon, the car crashed. She said Delreco was still alive after the initial crash with the pickup, but ,when the van hit them, she died, prosecutors wrote.
Deputies learned that most of the damage where Delreco was sitting likely came from the van crashing into the Subaru. When they searched the van, deputies allegedly found drug-related items and firearm components, prosecutors wrote. The van had damage to the driver’s side front bumper, and deputies noticed the smell of fresh white paint.
Prosecutors wrote that they might add additional charges.
