Drivers who hit, killed state trooper in Tacoma won't face criminal charges

Pierce County prosecutors determined last month that the two drivers who separately struck a State Patrol trooper on a highway onramp, resulting in her death in December, won't face criminal charges because the available evidence shows neither violated criminal laws.

A detailed analysis of the Tacoma police investigation into the fatal collisions that killed 29-year-old Trooper Tara-Marysa Guting and an explanation of the legal standards to bring charges were laid out in a seven-page letter written by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Aaron Dickinson.

Dated June 11, the letter addressed to the lead detective notes that the medical examiner couldn't determine which collision caused Guting's injuries, meaning they couldn't definitively say which vehicle killed her.

According to the letter:

It was about 1 ½ hours after sunset on a chilly, rainy evening in Tacoma when Guting was dispatched at 6 p.m. Dec. 19 to a collision on the onramp to Highway 509 at Port of Tacoma Road. She arrived in her fully marked patrol vehicle and parked in the ramp's gore point behind a tow truck. A disabled vehicle involved in the collision was parked on the other side of the road, across the onramp.

Guting last responded to dispatch at 7:19 p.m. before walking across the onramp to talk to the tow truck driver and the driver of the disabled vehicle. Based on video captured by Guting's dashboard camera, she wasn't wearing reflective gear but held a flashlight that was pointed at the ground.

As she walked back across the onramp toward the highway, Guting was struck by a 2024 gray Mazda CX-50. The impact of the 7:21 p.m. collision caused Guting to be thrown across the gore point, into the right lane of Highway 509.

The Mazda's driver immediately pulled over and came to a controlled stop. In the dash-camera footage, the man "is visually distraught."

Guting was lying motionless in the right lane for two minutes before she was struck a second time by a 2011 black Cadillac Escalade.

"In dash camera video, the Escalade does not appear to brake prior to striking her, but a distinct bounce occurs at the moment of the collision and the Escalade's brake lights briefly illuminate," the letter says. "The Escalade continues on without stopping or accelerating."

The Mazda's driver later told investigators he was driving 35 to 40 mph when he suddenly noticed a person standing in the middle of the onramp. He said he didn't see Guting until at or near the time of the collision and was unable to avoid hitting her.

A drug recognition expert evaluated the man and conducted field sobriety testing, including a portable breath test, before concluding the Mazda's driver didn't show any signs of impairment. Based on calculations at the scene, investigators determined the man was driving roughly between 33 and 47 mph at the time of impact.

Later that night, law enforcement officers recreated conditions to determine visibility and assess the credibility of the driver's account. A Pierce County sheriff's deputy stood in the middle of the onramp roughly where Guting had been while a second deputy drove toward him - with the second deputy later reporting that his ability to see the first deputy "was greatly reduced due to the excess lights as well as the dark and rainy conditions," according to the prosecutor's letter.

Police also conducted "an extensive and detailed investigation" to identify the driver of the Escalade, the letter says, leading them to a male driver who, when arrested in an unrelated incident, told police he was involved in a trooper's death and thought he had hit a pothole.

The Escalade's driver further told investigators he later learned of Guting's death from news reports and acquaintances and realized he might have been involved based on the timing of the collision.

After Tacoma police finished their investigation, they sent the case to prosecutors to review it for possible charges.

To charge the Mazda's driver with vehicular homicide, prosecutors would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the man was both driving with disregard for the safety of others and the proximate cause of Guting's death.

There's no evidence he was driving with disregard for the safety of others, which is an aggravated kind of negligence or carelessness that falls short of recklessness. He was operating his car normally and at normal speed, though he could have been driving faster to begin merging with traffic, the letter says.

As for the Escalade's driver, the state would, among other things, have to prove that he knew he had been involved in a wreck and failed to stop.

"Given the time of day, weather, lack of visibility and Trooper Guting's location, the State cannot prove (the Escalade's driver) realized he hit Trooper Guting," the letter says. "The best the State could prove is that (the Escalade's driver) knew he hit a garbage bag or pothole, which does not trigger the obligations of the hit and run statute."

In addition to the medical examiner's autopsy, the state consulted with a potential expert witness, a doctor, who has experience in collision reconstruction and determining cause of death. He believed he could show certain injuries - a lacerated aorta and lacerated lungs, for instance - were most likely caused when Guting was run over but indicated those injures could have been caused by the initial strike and Guting's subsequent launch and landing in the roadway.

Prosecutors concluded they couldn't prove vehicular assault or hit-and-run against either driver.

Guting was born and raised in Honolulu and served as a signals intelligence analyst for eight years in the Army National Guard before joining the Washington State Patrol in January 2024. Her husband, Timothy, is a deputy state fire marshal at the state Fire Training Academy. They married in 2019.

Guting is the 34th trooper lost in the line of duty.

In a statement, the State Patrol said the agency has great trust in the investigators and court officers involved in reviewing the facts of the fatal collision.

"We appreciate the work they have done in what must have been a very difficult case. But given the scope of our loss, their findings can neither dampen nor amplify the sorrow our entire agency feels over the passing of our dear friend and colleague," the statement says. "Trooper Tara Marysa Guting - Gone but never forgotten."

Material from The Seattle Times archives is included in this story.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.