Woman who fled after fatal hit on cyclist arrested

A 28-year-old woman who fled Shanghai after fatally hitting a female rider of an electrically-powered bicycle more than two years ago has been arrested, Shanghai police said yesterday.

On February 22, 2015, the perpetrator, surnamed Zhao, was walking on a bicycle lane on Shuangyang Road, Yangpu District, when the 55-year-old cyclist, surnamed Fan, approached from the opposite direction, police said.  

Footage from a surveillance camera showed Zhao suddenly reversing her course and she knocked Fan down from her bicycle.

Fan fell and sustained severe head injuries. She died after 44 days of treatment in a hospital. 

Police assigned Zhao major responsibility for walking illegally on a bicycle lane, and assigned Fan minor responsibility for "not reacting properly in the face of a traffic emergency."

After Fan's death, police in Yangpu District opened a criminal case against Zhao, who had fled to her hometown in Jiuquan City, Gansu Province.

Police listed Zhao as a criminal suspect on the Internet after the incident. In September, police in Gansu said they had found Zhao.

Police arrested Zhao and returned her to Shanghai, where she now faces criminal charges.

Fan’s family said they had kept making phone calls to Zhao, but she never showed any remorse about Fan's death and was not willing to return to Shanghai to compensate them for their loss.

Local news reports in 2015 said Fan’s parents were very ill and she was searching for a job in Shanghai at that time.

In their 2015 lawsuit against Zhao, who was missing, Fan's family said they had spent more than 100,000 yuan (US$15,000) for Fan's medical treatment and funeral. The case was filed as a personal injury compensation case.

The People’s Court in Yangpu District ruled that Zhao should compensate the family more than 760,000 yuan, including their expenses on Fan, but the ruling was not carried out, said Fan's family.