A 76-year-old Ocean Shores woman was badly injured and her dog was killed when a vehicle left the road and struck them while walking along Ocean Shores Boulevard SW Wednesday morning, Ocean Shores police said.

The driver of the vehicle was arrested for vehicular assault and suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, based on statements and observations made by officers at the scene, police said. A search warrant was later obtained for samples of the driver’s blood. The blood samples will be submitted to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab for testing with a possible additional charge for DUI pending the outcome of those tests. The driver was booked into the Grays Harbor County Jail for vehicular assault.

Ocean Shores Police Sergeant Chris Iversen said police were called to the 700 block of Ocean Shores Boulevard SW around 7:40 a.m. Wednesday after a report was received that a vehicle struck a pedestrian. Arriving officers found the 76-year-old badly injured on the ground. She was being tended to by passers-by who stopped to help.

The woman told officers she had been walking alone with her dog when she and the dog were struck by a passing vehicle that improperly left the roadway, police said. The vehicle, a 2002 Jeep Wrangler, then continued traveling further off the roadway until it became lodged in thick brush. The driver, and sole occupant of that vehicle, a 38-year-old Ocean Shores man, was located at the scene of the collision, police said. He suffered no apparent injuries.

The woman was taken by ambulance to an area hospital. Her dog, severely injured from the collision, died not long afterward, despite efforts by those on the scene.