No Charges for Either Driver in Death of WSP Trooper Tara-Marysa Guting, Prosecutors Determine

A second vehicle then struck Guting and left the scene. A Crime Stoppers tip led investigators to an 86-year-old Tacoma man who had reportedly told someone he believed he had hit “a bag of garbage.” Investigators later located dash camera footage from a responding officer showing the man’s Cadillac SUV leaving the area of the crash, recovered fibers from Guting’s uniform underneath the vehicle, and confirmed through cell phone records that the man was in the area at the time of the collision. The man told investigators he believed he had struck a pothole and did not learn of Guting’s death until seeing news reports.

Prosecutors concluded the evidence could not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the second driver knew he had struck a person. “Given the time of day, weather, lack of visibility, and Trooper Guting’s location, the State cannot prove the driver realized he hit Trooper Guting,” the memo states. “The best the State could prove is that the driver knew he hit a garbage bag or a pothole, which does not trigger the obligations of the hit-and-run statute.”

Compounding the legal complexity, the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office was unable to determine whether Guting died from the first collision or the second. “The law does not contemplate a scenario when it is unknown whether Trooper Guting was alive or deceased at the time the second driver struck her,” the memo states, adding that current law precludes a hit-and-run charge under those circumstances. Prosecutors noted that lawmakers should consider amending state law to address cases where a victim’s condition cannot be determined at the time of a subsequent collision.

Attorney Michael Stewart, who was not involved in the case, reviewed the findings and agreed with the decision not to file charges. “They took their time, they did a thorough investigation, and they made the right call,” Stewart said. He pointed to the weather and lighting conditions as central factors. “They determined that no one could have seen Trooper Guting in those conditions. It’s Dec. 19, the darkest time of the year, and the rain is driving sideways. You cannot make out objects or people unless they are illuminated.”

The 86-year-old man was arrested in March in an unrelated DUI case after a trooper found him stopped in the middle of Interstate 705 in Tacoma. According to a Washington State Patrol report, he told troopers during that arrest that he had been involved in the collision that killed Guting, telling them, “I don’t know what the hell’s gonna happen there. This is going to be bad for me.” He had already been identified and questioned by Tacoma police detectives prior to that arrest.

Trooper Guting joined the Washington State Patrol in 2024 and worked in District 1, which covers Pierce and Thurston counties. The agency said it supports the findings of the investigation. “We have great trust in both the investigators and courts that reviewed the facts of this tragedy,” WSP said in a statement, adding that the decision does not lessen the grief felt across the agency. “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. Trooper Tara-Marysa Guting, gone but never forgotten.”