PORT ANGELES — Bank surveillance video showed that freak accident killed a 65-year-old motorist using a bank’s ATM drive-through lane.
The woman died when her head was jammed between her van’s door and a metal post next to the ATM.
“We have absolutely no indication that it was anything other than an accident,” Detective Jesse Winfield said Monday.
No other vehicle or person was involved, and no one else was in the Oldsmobile van with Janice Tucker when she pulled up to the automatic teller machine outside US Bank, 134 E. Seventh St., about 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
“There is absolutely no evidence that anyone else had anything to do with it,” Winfield said.
Footage from the surveillance camera mounted in the ATM machine was viewed by police on Monday.
It showed Tucker opening the door and reaching down to pick up something that had fallen to the ground, Winfield said.
He said he wasn’t sure whether it was her ATM card or a receipt.
“I’m not sure whether the van popped into gear or whether her foot was on the brake and let up, but either way the car pulled forward a little bit,” Winfield said.
When it did, the door of the van hit a yellow protective bollard, or post, used to stop vehicles from running into the machine.
“That movement pushed the door against her head, which was between the door and the van,” Winfield said.
Although an autopsy will be performed, Winfield said Tucker probably died at the scene from extensive head injuries.
Door partially open
The door to Tucker’s Oldsmobile Silhouette van was partially open and she was partially out of the van when she was discovered Saturday morning, Winfield said.
Medics moved the van before attempting to give Tucker aid, but she was declared dead by emergency personnel, Winfield said.
No one witnessed the wreck, but a US Bank employee called 9-1-1 about one to two minutes after it happened.
Tucker had lived in Port Angeles for about 10 years, her son, Gregg Tucker, said.
Services were pending on Monday.
She is survived by her son, a daughter, Terri Fuchs, and four grandchildren.
________
Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
