911 caller describes fatal bus-stop fight

A man charged in the death of a Columbus man who was beaten at a bus stop slammed the victim’s head into a wall and then degraded him afterward, 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.”

Nicholson was unconscious, and one of his eyes had swelled, the caller told a dispatcher.

After the fight, Spirnak made degrading comments about Nicholson, the caller said.

“At this point, he doesn’t need to be doing that,” the caller said.

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

The cause of Nicholson’s death remains under investigation, but Spirnak has been charged with felonious assault. Spirnak