An Upper Arlington woman is accused of stealing a vehicle before a May 4 wrong-way crash that killed a Columbus assistant city prosecutor and injured another driver, county prosecutors allege in court documents.
Just before the fatal crash on State Route 315 near Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, the vehicle’s owner told police she picked up a woman, later identified as Xiaoke Fan, 30, of Upper Arlington, at East North Broadway and North High streets who asked for help and needed police, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Franklin County Municipal Court.
The vehicle’s owner told police she knew officers were at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, so she drove Fan there, according to the affidavit. At the hospital, police allege, Fan took a large rock out of her pocket and threatened to hit the vehicle’s owner with it and kill her.
The woman got out of the vehicle, and police allege in the affidavit that Fan left, entering State Route 315 going south in the northbound lanes.
Fan faces charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated assault and aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, according to court records.
In a news release, Columbus police said Fan was traveling south in the northbound lanes of State Route 315 when she hit a northbound black Mercedes-Benz at 10:11 p.m. near Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
A passenger in the black Mercedes, Kaitlyn Spahr, 30, was critically injured, according to the news release.
Spahr was taken to Wexner Medical Center, where she died at 10:51 p.m. Spahr was an assistant city prosecutor at the Columbus City Attorney’s Office.
Fan and the driver of the black Mercedes were also taken to Wexner Medical Center in critical condition.
In a statement, City Attorney Zach Klein said his office “suffered a tremendous loss.” Spahr had been with the office since February 2022.
“Kaitlyn was a dedicated public servant, working in the City Attorney’s Office for several years,” Klein said in the statement. “She was a hard worker, someone who cared about her job, and more importantly, the people she worked with and for – the residents of our city. Columbus is better for people like Kaitlyn who make a difference in the work they do each day.”
The crash was at least the third fatal wrong-way crash in the Columbus area since April.
Anyone with information about the crash may contact the Accident Investigation Unit at 614-645-4767 or provide an anonymous tip to the Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-4777.
Public safety and breaking news reporter Bailey Gallion can be reached at bagallion@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus assistant city prosecutor dies in Route 315 wrong-way crash
Reporting by Bailey Gallion, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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