Car thief suspect accused of hitting and killing 73-year-old Pasco woman
A 36-year-old man was wearing a court-ordered tracking device when he allegedly hit an older couple in a stolen car last week.
Julius Pulliam was out of jail awaiting trial for allegedly fleeing from police five months ago in another stolen car, according to court documents.
As part of his release in June, he was required to wear a GPS ankle monitor. Data from the device reportedly shows Pulliam was at the scene of last week’s hit-and-run that killed a 73-year-old woman, according to court documents.
He’s accused of hitting Maria Larios Torres and her 67-year-old husband, Jesus Vargas-Orozco, according to new court documents.
Pulliam was booked into the Franklin County jail Tuesday afternoon after a combination of witness statements, security camera footage and the GPS data led detectives to a home on the 500 block of South 22nd Avenue in Pasco.
He made his first appearance Wednesday in Franklin County Superior Court.
Investigators argued in court documents that he is a flight risk. He was convicted of fleeing the scene of an injury collision in Oklahoma in 2019, according to court records.
And he only recently moved to Washington after meeting his wife online and marrying her in 2022.
He currently is being held in lieu of $750,000 bail on suspicion of two counts of hit-and-run and third-degree escape.
Deadly Pasco crash
The Pasco couple was crossing 20th Avenue on their way home from a grocery trip to the SuperMex El Pueblo Market about 7 p.m. on Nov. 22 when they were hit.
They were rushed to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland but doctors weren’t able to save Larios Torres.
Her husband remains in the hospital, Sgt. Rigo Pruneda told the Herald on Wednesday.
A GoFundMe campaign organized by Quinton Stevens said Vargas-Orozco was able to say goodbye to his wife before she died.
The two had lived in Pasco for their entire lives and were field workers, Stevens said. The GoFundMe campaign has since been closed to new donations.
Police say security camera video showed the car that hit them was a maroon two-door Honda.
The next morning, investigators discovered the empty sedan parked in the backyard of a vacant home in the 400 block of 22nd Avenue. The car had been reported stolen in Pasco on Monday.
A tip identified the driver as “Awax,” which is Pulliam’s street name, according to court documents. The tipster told police that Pulliam admitted to hitting the couple. The witness claims Pulliam was the only person in the car.
Security camera footage from a grocery store in the hours before the crash showed Pulliam arriving in the Honda.
GPS ankle monitor
Pulliam was wearing a GPS ankle monitor as a condition of being released from jail in June on a previous charge of attempting to elude police, possessing a stolen car and illegally having a gun.
In that case, he was allegedly driving a Honda stolen from Richland when an officer tried to stop him, according to court documents. He sped off at up to 60 mph down Lewis Street.
The officer didn’t follow, but later spotted Pulliam as he was walking on A Street.
Officers found a gun, several small bags of methamphetamine on him and a “shaved” key that is used to start several older model cars, show court documents.
The GPS data reportedly shows he was at the scene of the Nov. 22 hit and run, as well as being near where the stolen car was abandoned, say investigators.
Hit and run arrest
Police say Pulliam had taken off the monitor minutes before officers found and arrested him this week.
He was taken to the Pasco Police Department, where he denied being the driver of the Honda at the time of the crash, though reportedly admitted to having driven the car.
Pulliam said he had driven a friend to steal the Honda believing that it had fentanyl pills inside.
He claimed the Honda was then stolen again by someone else, and he tried to chase it in a different car, according to court documents.
This story was originally published November 30, 2022 at 6:31 PM.