Woman arrested and faces charges for wreck that killed pedestrian in Spanaway last year
A 26-year-old driver who allegedly drove impaired and fatally struck a pedestrian in Spanaway last year has been arrested on a bench warrant.
Taylor Renae Tovoli was arrested Thursday afternoon and booked into Pierce County jail for the Dec. 29 wreck. Pierce County prosecutors charged Tovoli with vehicular homicide.
Tovoli was driving north on state Route 7 in a Honda Civic at a high speed when she allegedly hit 47-year-old Tonja Anna Marie Johnson, charging documents show.
A plea of not guilty was entered on Tovoli’s behalf at her arraignment on Friday in Pierce County Superior Court. A court commissioner set her bail at $100,000, court records show.
Tovoli has no previous felony convictions or criminal history, records show.
Johnson was walking in one of the travel lanes near 208th street East when she was hit at about 9:47 p.m., according to Washington State Patrol.
A witness said that the Honda kept driving and went through a fence where it hit a parked box truck. Troopers noted that the Honda had significant front-end damage, and there was debris strewn across the northbound and southbound lanes, prosecutors wrote.
A 5-year-old was in Tovoli’s Honda at the time of the crash. She was injured and taken to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. The child was out of the car when state troopers arrived. Tovoli was trapped inside the Honda but was eventually removed, charging documents show.
Troopers found a box of Twisted Tea alcoholic beverages inside the Honda. After Tovoli was placed in an ambulance, troopers reported a strong smell of intoxicants, and she reportedly vomited, prosecutors wrote.
The results of Tovoli’s toxicology testing are pending, prosecutors wrote.
Johnson was a mother to three daughters, according to her obituary.
