Driver hits and kills 86-year-old pedestrian in Thurston County parking lot

A vehicle hit and killed a woman in a grocery store parking lot in Tumwater on Monday, police said.

Lt. Jen Kolb with the Tumwater Police Department said units were dispatched at 11:47 a.m. Jan. 12 to the parking lot at 520 Cleveland Ave. for a vehicle versus pedestrian crash. She said the driver, a 51-year-old man, hit an 86-year-old woman. Kolb said the man “just didn’t see her,” and called it an unfortunate and sad accident.

Kolb said there was no arrest in the incident and no indication of DUI or impairment. She said police were assisted by the Washington State Patrol in their investigation Monday afternoon.

Officials have not yet released the woman’s name.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misstated the woman’s age. She was 86 years old, according to the Thurston County coroner.

This story was originally published January 12, 2026 at 4:11 PM.

Ty Vinson

The Olympian

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Ty Vinson covers the City of Olympia and keeps tabs on Tumwater and other communities in Thurston County. He joined The Olympian in 2021. Before that, he earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism at Indiana University. In college, he worked as an intern at the Northwest Indiana Times, the Oregonian and the Arizona Republic as a Pulliam Fellow. Support my work with a digital subscription