A 40-year-old Port Orchard man was arrested Friday after allegedly running off the road and killing a woman walking in Purdy, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.

Spokesman Ed Troyer said that the suspect was driving a black, 1982 Mazda RX7 on Purdy Drive around 4:45 p.m. July 11 when, “for some reason he lost control of the car and ran over a pedestrian.”

Troyer said the victim killed was 43-year-old Rebecca Wilkie-Moore, who had recently moved from Allyn to Purdy and was engaged.

“This was somebody who never should have been behind the wheel,” Troyer said of the driver, who reportedly stopped and got out of his car to look at the victim before fleeing the scene, according to witnesses.

Troyer said at least one witness then followed the suspect, who drove north and was eventually apprehended near Horseshoe Lake.

Kitsap County Sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Scott Wilson said his office was called for assistance shortly after the accident occurred Friday, then began receiving calls from witnesses in South Kitsap about a black Mazda with “significant windshield damage driving recklessly” on Bethel-Burley Road.

When a deputy responded to Horseshoe Avenue and Spruce Road, he found the Mazda abandoned with the engine still running.

At the same time, residents nearby were calling 911 to report that a bloodied man was seen running around and banging on doors.

The deputy then located the suspect, who reportedly had blood on his face, hands and arms, near a residence on the 15000 block of Horseshoe Avenue.

He then said, “I did it, I’m the one you’re looking for, can you drive me back to the collision?” and was then placed under arrest.

A woman with the suspect identified herself as his wife and said that her husband had been banging on the neighbor’s houses, asking for a ride.

Troyer said the suspect was booked into Pierce County Jail on charges of vehicular homicide, hit-and-run, driving without a license and for a felony warrant.

He was expected to be arraigned Monday.

The victim had two grown children and had worked as a delivery person for several years for many local newspapers.

Her former boss at both the Kitsap Sun and the Port Orchard Independent said she had first hired her as a carrier for the Sun at least 10 years ago.

“She had a heart of gold,” she said of Wilkie-Moore. “She was just a sweetheart.”

A memorial is planned for Wilkie-Moore at 3 p.m. Sunday at A New Beginning Family Christian Center at Wildwood and Sidney roads.