Tacoma Police have impounded a vehicle believed to be involved in the hit-and-run crash that killed a Washington State Patrol trooper last week.
The vehicle was located and seized within the past 24 hours, the agency revealed Tuesday, Dec. 23.
Trooper Tara-Marysa Guting, 29, was struck around 7:20 p.m. Friday, Dec. 19, while investigating an unrelated ceash on the on-ramp to southbound SR-509 from Port of Tacoma Road, as Puget Press reported.
The initial impact threw the trooper into the right travel lane, where she was left incapacitated in the roadway.
A short time later, a second vehicle — described as a dark-colored pickup truck — struck Guting in the right lane and continued southbound without stopping, police said. People at the scene immediately rendered aid, but she died from her injuries.
Investigators asked anyone who witnessed the crash or who may have dash-camera footage from southbound SR-509 near Port of Tacoma Road between approximately 7:20 and 7:30 p.m. to contact Crime Stoppers. Tips can be submitted by calling 1-800-222-TIPS.
Guting began her career with the Washington State Patrol as a cadet in January 2024 and graduated from the agency’s 119th Trooper Basic Training Class later that year. She was commissioned in October and assigned to District 1 in Tacoma.
Her death marks the 34th line-of-duty death in the agency’s 105-year history, the patrol said.
Guting, an Army National Guard veteran, served eight years as a signal intelligence analyst before completing her military service in 2022, according to police said. She is survived by her husband, Timothy, a deputy state fire marshal.
“Our heartfelt condolences go out to Timothy, Tara’s extended family, her friends, her academy classmates, to District 1 Captain Gundermann, and his entire team,” Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste said in a statement. “We will never forget Badge #720 – Trooper Tara-Marysa Guting.”
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