Woman Charged In Hit-And-Run Told Police She Thought She Hit A Deer

Investigators in Alexander County made an arrest Wednesday morning in a fatal hit-and-run after receiving a tip from a Channel 9 viewer.

They said a woman saw a news report on the crash and called authorities when she spotted a car with suspicious damage to the front end.

Donna Farmer, 34, of Statesville is charged with felony hit-and-run, failure to reduce speed and misdemeanor death by vehicle in the crash that killed Hank Pittman Jr., 61, on Old Mountain Road south of Taylorsville early Tuesday.

Pittman was working on a cable line shortly after 2 a.m. when he was struck by a car and thrown about 70 feet. A passerby found him lying in the road with his jacket folded under his head.

Pittman died a short time later at Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem.

Authorities said Farmer was questioned and then arrested at her home in Statesville. Troopers obtained a search warrant and seized a 1999 gold Saturn.

Investigators said Farmer told them she was driving home from her boyfriend’s house and thought she'd hit a deer. Her brother, Randy Jones, also told Eyewitness News that she hit a deer.

“If she had known it was a person, she'd have stopped,” he said. “I asked her (what happened) and she told me she had hit a deer, and I let it go at that.”

But neighbor Adam McMurry said Farmer told him a different story about how her driver’s side window was damaged.

“I asked her what happened, and she says she locked her keys in the car at the gas station, and she said she busted it out with a baseball bat," he said.

Deputies would not speak about Farmer’s medical condition when she was taken to Frye Regional Medical Center on Wednesday morning, but they said she did not appear to understand the charges against her.

Investigators said they are testing Farmer’s DNA to see if it matches any found on Pittman’s clothing.

Pittman’s wife said he husband worked for 40 years to support his six children. A memorial fund for the children has been set up in his name at Wachovia.

Previous Stories: November 24, 2009: Cable Worker Killed In Alexander Co. Hit-And-Run