TACOMA, Wash. — Editor's note: The above video aired May 6 after the suspect was arrested.
A woman suspected of hitting and killing her husband with a vehicle in Tacoma was charged with a felony hit-and-run on Monday.
Jennifer Mellissa Pierce, 41, allegedly hit her husband with a Jeep during a confrontation on May 5.
The Tacoma Police Department said officers responded to South 10th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way around 10 p.m. for a report that a man had been struck by a vehicle in a hit-and-run crash. When officers arrived, they found 52-year-old Frank Pierce in the roadway and started life-saving measures. He later died at the hospital.
Officers found a handgun and pocket knife at the scene.
Jennifer Pierce was arrested the next day.
While being interviewed by a detective, Pierce said an acquaintance told her that Frank Pierce was looking for her. She told the detective she didn't think about it at the time, according to probable cause documents.
While driving through Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood, Pierce said she saw Frank Pierce who began to follow her. As she approached Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Jennifer Pierce said Frank Pierce sped his vehicle past hers, turned in front of her, and "slammed on the brakes," according to probable cause documents.
Jennifer Pierce said she was forced to stop her vehicle. At that time, she said Frank Pierce got out with a handgun and began pointing the gun at her and yelling, according to probable cause documents. She eventually told detectives that she stole the license plate off Frank Pierce's vehicle earlier in the day, which is why he was angry.
In an attempt to get away, Jennifer Pierce said she tried to drive her vehicle between Frank Pierce and his vehicle, but as she was passing, he ran in front of her vehicle and she hit him, according to probable cause documents.
Jennifer Pierce said she stopped to check on Frank Pierce. As she got out of her vehicle, her son was next to him. She said that as she approached, her son allegedly grabbed a knife and threatened to kill her, according to probable cause documents.
She drove about a block away and parked. She said she waited in the area but left when she heard police approaching.
Pierce's son told police he was driving with his father as a passenger when they saw Jennifer Pierce driving a Jeep Cherokee with the stolen rear license plate, according to probable cause documents. The license plate belonged to the vehicle they were in.
Frank Pierce got out of the vehicle and began shouting at Jennifer Pierce to give the license plate back, the son told police.
Pierce's son told police that she drove by them, turned around, accelerated and intentionally struck Frank Pierce, according to probable cause documents.
When her son was asked why she would do that, police were told Pierce was "upset that he and his brother wanted to live with Frank Pierce and not [Jennifer Pierce.]"
Video footage of the incident confirmed Jennifer Pierce's story, with most of it matching what she said while contradicting what her son said, according to probable cause documents.
Police initially classified the collision as a homicide.
However, after reviewing the surveillance footage and interviewing Jennifer Pierce, police do not believe the incident was deliberate. Police re-classified the collision as a hit-and-run.