The driver suspected of striking and killing a member of a Clark County work crew Monday in Vancouver appeared Tuesday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of vehicular homicide and hit-and-run death.
Matthew S. Purifoy, 33, of Portland is accused of driving erratically through the city, striking Anita Walters, 57, with his car and then fleeing the scene. Police said they suspect he may have been impaired.
Judge Barbara Johnson held Purifoy in the Clark County Jail in lieu of $500,000 and appointed Vancouver attorney Chris Ramsay to defend him. Purifoy is set to be arraigned Dec. 19.
Purifoy has a criminal history of reckless driving, hit-and-run and driving under the influence this year and hit-and-run and bail jumping in 2013, said Deputy Prosecutor Rebecca Warren.
Several callers to 911 reported at about 11:15 a.m. that a maroon Monte Carlo with damage to the left rear taillight was driving recklessly on Interstate 205 northbound from Portland. The vehicle first struck a small white pickup on the northbound span of the I-205 Bridge and kept going. The Monte Carlo’s driver appeared to be falling asleep, veering from side-to-side and drooling, according to an affidavit by Vancouver police Detective Wally Stefan.
One witness followed the driver and switched on the hazard lights on his vehicle, Stefan wrote.
From I-205, the suspect took state Highway 500 west and struck a light pole on the highway before exiting onto Northeast Andresen Road, according to Washington State Patrol Trooper Will Finn.
He traveled north on Andresen Road at about 60 mph, swerving back and forth in the northbound and southbound lanes before driving on the sidewalk on the east side of the road just north of Northeast Vancouver Mall Drive, where two county work crew members were walking. He narrowly missed one but struck Walters with his vehicle. Walters died at the scene.
The driver then continued north for a short distance before crashing the car into a retaining wall near 58th Street. The driver was taken into custody, according to Vancouver police. Vancouver police Officer Rick Rich said the suspect smelled of alcohol and that his speech was slurred. According to Stefan, police obtained a warrant to take a sample of Purifoy’s blood to test for the presence of drugs or alcohol.
During a police interview, Purifoy said he was unaware that his vehicle struck and killed Walters, court papers say.
The Vancouver Police Department’s Major Crimes Team and Traffic Unit continue to investigate the incident.
Walters is the 36th person killed in a Clark County traffic crash this year.
