Stoned hit-and-run driver allegedly told police he didn’t have to stop

A woman was left lying in the middle of the street after an intoxicated man hit her with his car and kept driving, only to later turn himself in just after 7 p.m. last Tuesday.

Zachary Pemrose-Johnson, 28, allegedly hit Marietta Jean Pearson, 72, in the middle of the intersection of 5^th Ave SE and Eastside Street SE in downtown Olympia on May 11. Pemrose-Johnson continued to drive away for almost two miles before arriving at Marion St NE, where he called 911 dispatch to identify himself as the hit-and-run driver and told dispatch that “he did not have to stop since the pedestrian was not in the crosswalk.”

911 dispatch noticed that Pemrose-Johnson’s speech was “heavily slurred,” suspected him to be under the influence and told him to remain parked at Marion St NE rather than turn back toward the scene of the impact.

Olympia Police arrived at the 5^th Ave SE intersection to find Pearson lying on her left side next to her cane, in the middle of the road, not moving, with blood coming from the back of her head. She was unresponsive to emergency aid but breathing.

A witness told Olympia Police that she had her car parked on 5^th Ave East, three stalls from the intersection. The witness stated that she heard tires screeching and saw “a lady fall off the hood of the car” and described the vehicle matching the description of Pemrose-Johnson’s car.

Aria Coumbs Von-Bargen went to the accident scene and spoke to officers, claiming to be Pemrose-Johnson’s girlfriend. In a recorded conversation [find below this story], Von-Bargen stated that Pemrose-Johnson had called her immediately after the collision occurred and was at Von-Bargen’s house.

Pemrose-Johnson denied drinking alcohol or using drugs when contacted by officers but said that he took medication for being bipolar. Officers noticed in their police report that there was a prescription bottle in Pemrose-Johnson’s car. Pemrose-Johnson blew 0.00 on the breathalyzer test.

Pemrose-Johnson told officers that “I just hit some girl with my car” and “I called 911, she hit my windshield and I didn’t know what to do.” Pemrose-Johnson then told police that he had just gotten off of work, driven from Centralia to Olympia, and was “just driving, I didn’t see her and she went over my windshield.”

Officers noted in their police report that Pemrose-Johnson’s eyelids dropped low, his eyes were bloodshot and watery. Upon further investigation, Pemrose-Johnson admitted to smoking two“dabs” of marijuana oil and “one hit” of marijuana from a pipe about ten hours prior. A “dab” is “the same as marijuana, but in a stronger form” Pemrose-Johnson told officers.

Olympia Police determined after several sobriety tests that Pemrose-Johnson was under the influence of a central nervous system depressant and cannabis and was “unable to operate a vehicle safely.”

Pemrose-Johnson was booked into the Thurston County Jail for felony hit & run and vehicular assault.

When officers interviewed Pearson at Providence St. Peter Hospital, she had no memory of the collision nor knew why she was at the hospital. Pearson told Olympia Police that she stayed at the Interfaith Shelter and did not have a phone or email.