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 employee in the city attorney’s office, county prosecutors allege in court documents.
Just before the fatal crash on State Route 315, 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. Fan asked for help and said she 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 affidavit said.
The woman got out of the vehicle, and police said in the affidavit that Fan left, entering State Route 315 going south in the northbound lanes.
In a news release, Columbus police said Fan hit a northbound black Mercedes-Benz at 10:11 p.m. near the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
A passenger in the black Mercedes, Kaitlyn Spahr, 30, was critically injured and taken to Wexner Medical Center, where she died at 10:51 p.m. She was an assistant city prosecutor at the Columbus City Attorney’s Office.
The driver of the Mercedes, Soogie Choi, was also critically injured, police said. Choi also works at the City Attorney’s Office as an environmental prosecutor, according to her LinkedIn page.
Fan was 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 wrote. “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.”
Fan faces charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated assault and aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, according to court records.
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 asst prosecutor killed, another critical in SR 315 wrong-way crash
Reporting by Bailey Gallion, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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