An SUV driver struck a woman on foot at a Duluth intersection, and police have arrested the motorist on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs.

The incident occurred about 12:40 p.m. Tuesday near well-traveled London Road and North 40th Avenue E., where 62-year-old Donna Ruth Estrem, of Duluth, was declared dead, according to police.

The driver, Theresa M. Katzmark, of Superior, Wis., remained jailed Wednesday on suspicion of criminal vehicular homicide.

"Officers at the scene suspected driver impairment" on the part of the 49-year-old woman behind the wheel, officer Ron Tinsley, the police spokesman, said Tuesday evening. "A blood test was conducted on the driver at a local hospital."

Tinsley added late Wednesday morning that Katzmark "was suspected of being under the influence of a controlled substance."

Colleen Murray, who came upon the area shortly before the crash, told the Duluth News Tribune that the SUV was parked on grass just outside the Ecumen Lakeshore senior living complex while Katzmark was talking calmly with Estrem.

Estrem walked away, and the SUV backed up and then lurched forward, slamming her into an electrical box, Murray said. It's not clear whether it was intentional.

Tinsley said the two women were not known to each other.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482