Austin Police Make Arrest After Woman Run Over With Car Following Argument

NORTH AUSTIN, TX — Austin police on Thursday an arrest related to the death of a woman who was run over by a motorist with whom she had had a verbal confrontation earlier this month.

On Nov. 2 at about 1:30 a.m., police responded to the 5300 block of North Interstate 35 northbound service road after receiving a call about a crash. Once there, officers found a woman lying in the parking lot with obvious injuries.

Austin-Travis County EMS medics transported the woman to University Medical Center Brackenridge where she was pronounced dead just after 2 a.m.

Witnesses told police the victim had exited her car and verbally confronted the male drive of another vehicle. The male driver and at least two passengers exited the second car and verbally engaged the victim, police said. Exactly what transpired next is unclear, but after the occupants of the second vehicle returned to their car, the driver ran over the victim before fleeing the scene.

Following an autopsy, the woman's death was ruled a homicide. Police previously identified the victim as Mary Piette, 62.

On Nov. 8, Zachary Paul Denson Looke, 27, was arrested for the homicide and charged with capital murder, police said. No bond was set.

What at first appeared to be a case of road rage now appears to be a robbery, according to police: "It was discovered through investigation that the victim was killed during the commission of a robbery," police said in a news release.

Homicide detectives are still looking for the suspect's vehicle and other passengers that were in the car at the time of the murder, officials added. The vehicle was described as a blue four-door sedan.

Anyone with information on this incident is urged to call detectives at the Homicide Tip Line at 512-477-3588 or Crime Stoppers at 512-472-TIPS or text "Tip 103" + your message to CRIMES. You can also submit tips by downloading APD’s mobile app, Austin PD, for free on iPhone and Android.

>>> Looke booking photo courtesy of Austin Police Department