Woman arrested in hit-and-run death of Everett pedestrian

EVERETT — A woman was arrested Thursday on suspicion she fled the scene after hitting and killing an elderly Everett woman last month.

On the evening of Aug. 15, Patricia Oman was walking in the 5400 block of Broadway when a silver Ford Escape hit her, according to Everett police. She was thrown to the side of the road, where she was left unconscious.

Four days later, Oman died. She was 80.

After the crash, the driver in the Escape fled, according to an Everett officer’s report. Under state law, drivers who injure someone with their car must stop, render aid and remain at the scene.

A witness told a 911 dispatcher the driver was a middle-aged woman and provided information about the Escape’s license plate, according to the police report. An Everett Transit bus drove on Broadway after the crash. A bus camera captured a woman getting out of the driver’s side of the Escape as it was stopped.

A couple weeks after the crash, Everett police took to Facebook looking for tips. One anonymous tipster reported the Escape belonged to a 32-year-old woman and gave the alleged driver’s phone number, court papers say.

On Sept. 9, the woman was arrested for investigation of physical control of a vehicle while under the influence. A judge approved a warrant to inspect the Escape. The front passenger headlight was damaged. In fact, pieces of headlight found at the crash scene fit into the Escape “like a puzzle piece,” the Everett officer wrote in his report.

There was also damage to the front grill and the antenna was bent back. The officer reported this was “consistent with a pedestrian tumbling over the passenger side of the vehicle.”

Police created a photo montage with the suspect’s picture. They showed it to the crash witness, who identified the woman as the Escape’s driver that evening.

The father of the woman’s children told investigators he’d met with her at 6 p.m. on the day of the crash. She left to go back to her home in Seattle, placing her in the area of the crash at the same time, according to police.

Police arrested the suspect for investigation of a hit-and-run fatality and taking a motor vehicle without permission in a separate incident, both felonies. The police report noted the suspect lives in Seattle. In court Friday, however, she told a judge she lives in Marysville.

On Friday, she was held in the Snohomish County Jail. Prosecutors asked for bail to be set at $250,000. Everett District Court Judge Anthony Howard set bail at $100,000.

Eli Jacobsen, the suspect’s public defender, noted she has no criminal history.

Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.