UPDATE: Driver Involved in New Year’s Day Hit and Run Fatal of MSU Student Faces Arraignment Friday in Rochester Hills
Oakland County, MI – March 15, 2023 – An Oakland Township woman who fled to
Thailand to avoid felony charges in the New Year’s Day crash that killed a Michigan State
University student is back in Michigan and will be arraigned on Friday.
Tubtim “Sue” Howson, 57, was returned to Michigan today to face charges in the traffic crash
that killed 22-year-old Benjamin Kable.
“I greatly appreciate the assistance of the Thailand authorities and our federal partners who
worked tirelessly with us to bring this woman back and to hold her accountable,” Sheriff Michael
Bouchard said. “It’s hard to imagine how you could drive away and leave a person in the road
that you had struck and killed. It will never fill the void for the family but hopefully it brings them
a measure of closure.”
Howson was taken to an undisclosed location in Michigan by U.S. Marshals who accompanied
her from San Francisco where she had been held since Feb. 22. The location was not released
for security reasons. She is scheduled to be arraigned Friday at 11:30 a.m. before Judge Lisa
Asadorian in 52-3rd District Court in Rochester Hills. Howson is charged with failure to stop at
the scene of an accident causing death.
Howson’s return to Michigan ends a saga that began shortly after the crash. Investigators
believe Howson was the driver of the vehicle that struck Kable, a Shelby Township resident,
while he was either standing or walking on Rochester Road south of Whims in Oakland
Township. The crash happened at approximately 5:49 a.m. on Jan. 1
Although Howson – who lived not far from the crash scene – fled, investigators obtained a
description of the vehicle and believed the driver was a female of Asian descent.
A tip led investigators to identify Howson as the driver. Howson, who is a dual citizen of both the
United States and Thailand, left Michigan two days after the crash and flew to Bangkok.
Sheriff’s investigators, with the assistance of the FBI, U.S. Marshals, and law enforcement
officials from Thailand, were able to locate Howson and she was returned to the United States
in late February.
She was in custody in San Francisco for several court hearings that would ultimately clear the
way for her return to Michigan.
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March 15, 2023, Oakland County Sheriff and Rochester.Life staff