911 caller describes fatal bus stop fight

A suspect charged in the death of a Columbus man who was beaten at a bus stop slammed the victim’s head into a wall and degraded him after the incident, according to a witness who called 911.

Richard Spirnak, 46, of Whitehall, is in police custody after the July 23 fight at a bus stop at East Main Street and South James Road on the East Side.

The Columbus man he is accused of beating, Brandon Nicholson, 41, was taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, where he died July 30.

Nicholson started an argument with Spirnak at the bus stop and then attacked him, a police report said. Spirnak fought back and knocked Nicholson unconscious, the report said.

A witness who called 911 said that Spirnak’s response went beyond self-defense.

Spirnak poured water on Nicholson and grabbed him by his beard, the caller said.

“He was smacking him in the face,” the caller said. “And he was slamming his head into a wall.”

“The guy is not getting up,” the caller said of Nicholson. “He’s drunk and he’s knocked out.”

Spirnak remained at the bus stop after the fight, the caller said. But the suspect was gone by the time police arrived, a police report said.

Investigators interviewed two witnesses and identified Spirnak as a suspect in the fight. He was arrested this past weekend, police said.