UPDATE: Severely Beaten Detroit Driver Discharged After Six (6) Weeks

This is an update I found from May 18 on the condition of the beaten truck driver who accidentally hit a child and stopped to see how the boy was. (As he should have.)

Beaten father & grandfather Steve Utash

 

 

 

By Kevin Conlon, CNN

updated 2:00 PM EDT, Sun May 18, 2014

 

 

 (CNN) -- A 54-year-old Michigan tree trimmer -- beaten nearly to death after going to the aid of a child he accidentally struck with his vehicle -- is home after spending more than six weeks in a hospital and rehabilitation center.

The "Help Steven Utash" Facebook page posted the news Saturday night. Cheryl Angelelli, a spokeswoman for DMC Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, confirmed Utash was discharged on Thursday.

Steven Utash was set upon by about a dozen people April 4 after his truck struck a 10-year-old boy, police said. After Utash stopped his vehicle to help the boy, he was "severely beaten" with "fists and feet," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement.

Jennifer Moreno, a police spokeswoman, told CNN that all of the alleged assailants were African-American and that none are known to be related to the boy or his family. She said the beating was "a spontaneous response."

The prosecutor's office said the boy who was struck by Utash's truck was taken to a local hospital, where he was treated for a leg injury and released.

Five suspects ranging in age from 16 to 30 have been charged so far for their roles in the attack.

The four adult suspects are charged with attempted murder while the fifth, a juvenile, is charged with assault and ethnic intimidation.

Michigan's penal code says a person is guilty of ethnic intimidation "if that person maliciously, and with specific intent to intimidate or harass another person because of that person's race, color, religion, gender, or national origin, causes physical contact with another person (or) damages, destroys, or defaces any real or personal property of another person." It can carry a prison sentence of up to two years.

Worthy spokeswoman Maria Miller said the adults are scheduled to go to trial in August and the juvenile in June. She said that there was not sufficient evidence to charge the other suspects with ethnic intimidation, but that the case remains open and the investigation ongoing.

A Change.org petition demanding that Moreno charge Utash's assailants with a hate crime had 124 signatures Sunday morning. Daughter Felicia Utash told CNN affiliate WXYZ that she doesn't want to believe the assault on her father was a hate crime, but she is pleased that suspects have been apprehended.

Utash's other daughter, Mandi Marie Utash, set up a GoFundMe.com page for her father -- who she says does not have health insurance -- with the goal of raising $50,000.

By Sunday morning, more than 4500 donors had contributed $186,298.

Arrests Made In Attack On Detroit Driver Who Struck A Boy

When it comes to accidents while driving, in my opinion there is nothing worse than a cowardly hit-and-run driver. They are the lowest form of slime, to leave a person lying in the street hurt, while they speed off for fear of their reputation being tarnished, or having their license taken way, or even just being 'grounded'.  Wait, there is one lower form; a hit-and-run driver who has hit a child. To me they are on the same level as a pedophile. They could possibly have taken that child's life and then left like it was nothing!

That's why, when I see that someone has been hit by a car and the driver stayed, I think that should carry a lot of weight when it comes time for that person to go to court. Not that they should go free or anything, after all, they only did what they were supposed to do in case of an accident. However there are so many who don't that I think it makes those who do just a bit more special.

This is why I find this story so difficult to understand. Even if it was a hate crime, done because of his race, accidents happen! The man was willing to stop his vehicle and get out to try to help the boy (who as it turns out wasn't even seriously hurt!) and was apologizing, so what was the reason for this?? Stupidity, in my book. Blind hate of a man because he had dared to accidentally sideswipe a child who ran out into the street while playing, straight into the path of the man's vehicle. Stupid.

Here's a video on the arrest:

Posted April 5, 2014 on Newsy.com




And here's the USA today story from April 3, 2014 on the accident and the beating.
If you want to donate to the fund to help the driver, Steve Utash, with his medical bills (he has no insurance) there's a GoFundMe page for that purpose.