MARION, Ohio (WCMH) — A central Ohio woman is still searching for answers nearly a month after her husband was forced off the road before crashing into a house and flipping his car.
He died in the hospital six days later. She is now offering $1500 of her own money for information leading to the identification and arrest of the man responsible.
“This has hurt a lot of people. He’s got a little boy. All my kids. My grandkids, like everybody. It’s just not fair,” explained Brandianne Arthur.
That crash on May 13 on S.R. 95 between Marion and LaRue in Marion County is still under investigation by the Ohio State Highway Patrol. They have since released several details, including a vehicle description and picture of a black BMW SUV model year 2006-2013.
The man behind the wheel of that car is described as a white man in his 30s or 40s with a red goatee.
Police said that the BMW was attempting to pass John Arthur II going westbound on a two-lane road. Another vehicle was coming the opposite direction and when the BMW swerved into the right lane pushed Arthur in his 2016 Subaru off the road.
“You can’t just drive around like and run people off the road and just drive away like it never happened,” said Brandianne Arthur, Johnny’s wife.
She spoke with NBC4 Friday evening after spending every day since May 13 trying to find the man who may have done this.
“If he’s got a conscience and he’s any type of a decent person he should just come forward himself,” she said.
The third shift worker said she and Johnny had come home from work, went to bed and woke up around 6:30 p.m. that Saturday. She ordered a pizza and went back to sleep after they said it would take about an hour.
“He woke me up at like 7:40 p.m. and asked me if I wanted to go with him. And I told him I didn’t. And he said alright I love you I’ll be right back. And then I got a call an hour later that he was in an accident,” she said.
When she found out where the crash was, she was confused. That wasn’t the route he usually would take.
“I didn’t know why he had went that way, he shouldn’t have been on 95. LaRue is straight on 37. I don’t know why he went that way,” she explained.
Then, days after the crash, she spoke with witnesses. One she said was following behind the BMW and recording it driving erratically. Arthur explained she saw home surveillance footage of the BMW and Johnny’s silver Subaru driving down the street. First with the BMW behind him, then moments later in front.
“By the time he goes by the house camera, that guy is in front of him. And his arm’s out the window flipping Johnny off,” she said.
“I still can’t believe it happened. And the fact that they can’t find the guy and we have all these pictures and videos is very aggravating,” she added.
Brandianne and Johnny were together for more than three years. She described him as “a good man.” She said he, “Was really good to my kids and grandkids. He liked to ride his motorcycle. He loved his car. It was his dream car.”
Since that, she has posted on social media, TikTok, Facebook and Reddit in an attempt to spread the photo of the black BMW SUV with hopes that someone will recognize the man inside.
“He didn’t even stop. It’s not like it was an accident and he stopped like ‘Hey.’ He didn’t even stop he just drove away. The decisions that were made that day altered so many lives,” she said.
Anyone with information regarding the crash or the BMW SUV can contact Ohio State Highway Patrol at (740) 383-2181.