DETROIT — Two Detroit teenagers were arrested Saturday in an attack on a suburban man who was brutally beaten by a mob after accidentally striking a boy with his pickup truck.
Investigators believe the 17-year-old and 16-year-old males had a direct role in the beating of Steve Utash, said Sgt. Mike Woody, a Detroit police spokesman.
Utash remained in critical condition Saturday, three days after the attack on the city’s east side.
Woody said no charges would be immediately filed against the teens while investigators continue their work. Police believe at least six people may have been involved.
“We still have a long way to go. I’ve been reminding people we’re still at the very beginning stage of this investigation,” the sergeant said.
The case has outraged the public, clergy and elected officials. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan called the attack “senseless.”
Utash, 54, of Clinton Township accidentally struck a 10-year-old boy with his pickup Wednesday. A mob swarmed him as he checked the boy, whose injuries were not life-threatening.
A prominent black pastor, the Rev. Horace Sheffield III, called on the public to go block by block to find the “heartless perpetrators.”
It’s important for community members “to prove that we equally deplore justice and unbridled brutality no matter what color the victim is or of the one committing it,” Sheffield said in a statement.
Utash is white; Detroit is more than 80 percent black.
Utash’s family said more than $50,000 has been raised for his medical bills. The tree trimmer has no medical insurance.
“I never expected this. ... The whole nation is rooting for him to wake up and be OK,” his daughter, Mandi Emerick, told The Detroit News.
DETROIT, MI -- Mayor Mike Duggan and City Council President Brenda Jones issued a joint statement Friday calling the severe beating of a driver whose car struck a boy Wednesday a senseless attack that doesn't represent the character of Detroit.
The city identified the driver as Steve Utash, who was driving on Morang Drive around 4 p.m. Wednesday when the 11-year-old boy, David Harris, ran into the street and was struck by the moving truck, according to police.
Utash got out his vehicle to check on the boy, according to police, and was beaten by an angry crowd that gathered at the scene, police said.
The beating left the man in critical condition, according to police. The boy suffered a broken leg, according to the Associated Press.
Police said the driver was not at fault.
Duggan and Jones said Utash "had done the right thing by stopping to check on the boy."
"This senseless vigilante style attack is not the essence of who we are as Detroiters and will not be tolerated," they said in the statement.
"We are asking all Metro Detroiters to demonstrate our true character by exercising calm and patience during this emotionally charged time. Most important, we must all keep Mr. Utash, David Harris and their families in our prayers. We also are calling on members of our community who know the individuals involved in this brutal attack to step forward so that justice can be served and healing can begin."
Police ask anyone with information on the incident to call 313-596-1616.
[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 04-06-2014).]
Sad part is they will not be charged with a hate crime because the attackers were black and the victim white. As of yesterday they still haven't even been charged. Had that been reversed there would have been rioting, looting and national coverage. And they wonder why people have become racist. If things don't even out soon I can see a rise in hate related crimes and a rise in groups like the KKK and black panthers. Equal rights means equal justice. It has to work both ways.
Anymore, if you dont feel absolutely safe getting out where the accident is, and your cars movable, Id call police on the cell to report it and tell them where Im at...somewhere away from the scene. Cops told me that its not hit and run or leaving the scene if you immediately call and tell them if you felt threatened.
Depends on circumstances. If he hit the kid, or even hit him intentionally, jumped out and ran...id be all for catching him and tackling him with enough force to restrain him. From what I seen, He hit the kid accidentally and was trying to help him, when the group blindsided him. Now on the other side, they should hunt down the ones that did the beating and give them one themselves, and have the cops clean up the mess.
[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 04-06-2014).]
What a horrible situation, if this were to happen to someone I love I wouldn't be able to see the color of their skin. But I also wouldn't attack and beat down the person, I would be more concerned with the well being of my loved one.
I thought the majority here was FOR vigilante justice...
Where was the justice and what was the crime? (even on scene witnesses said the kid just walked right out in front of the driver) (not rhetorical questions)
I think that the whole concept of “hate crime” is absurd. It suggests that the seriousness of a crime varies depending on the belief or ancestry of the victim and the perpetrator. Are we not rooted in the concept of equal justice. Isn't that why “Lady Justice” is depicted wearing a blindfold?
I would suggest that the concept of “hate crime” only facilitates and perpetuates hate and racism.
If a crime is deemed worse because of someone's race or religion, how does that differ from racial or religious discrimination?
Where was the justice and what was the crime? (even on scene witnesses said the kid just walked right out in front of the driver) (not rhetorical questions)
THEY thought the crime was hitting the kid. THEY thought they were dealing justice.
I think that the whole concept of “hate crime” is absurd. It suggests that the seriousness of a crime varies depending on the belief or ancestry of the victim and the perpetrator. Are we not rooted in the concept of equal justice.
No, it suggests that the seriousness of the crime lies in the motivation of the attacker.
I'm going from what many members here have outright said. Where are you getting the gun thing?
where have all these peaple said that i see 1 post saying anything close to that . when you start by asking very open ended question expect peaple not too know how or why you come up with stuff and i just figured it was guns .
Just my opinion, but Detroit hasn't changed, if anything it's gotten worse over the years. Back it the 70's and early 80's I used to work at Chrysler's Engineering Headquarters in Highland Park, I was taught never to stop for anything should it happen, just drive straight to nearest Police Station. The popular thing at that time was for the Blacks to bump your car, then when you stop, they rob you with gun, or knife pointed at you. I also had a job at there Jeep Truck Engineering HQ on Plymouth and Shaffer Road, quit the job after 6 wks because to get there you had to go through too many dangerous Black neighborhoods, even the employee parking lot was razor wired in, so they wouldn't steal your car, but it still managed to happen.
Hate crimes are one of the worst pieces of legislation that have ever been passed in this country. It assumes that somehow the reason for the crime is worse is there is some undefinable characteristic to it, called hate. Hate is in the mind of the offender and is determined in the mind of the person in-charge. It is not a stable thing and cannot be reasonably adjudicated. And has been shown by how it is being applied it is almost always applied against white males who are heterosexual.
Why not just punish the crime committed instead of trying to make up new classes of crimes that are somehow worse? If you beat someone up no matter the reason you should be prosecuted for that assault. If you kill someone, then murder is the charge. These crimes don't have to have a racial or sexual connotation to them. They are already crimes and as such should be punished.
Family members tell Fox 2 Steve Utash remains in a medically induced coma and he's not out of the woods. His son says every time doctors try to bring him out of the coma he panics and tries to defend himself. Joseph Utash spoke only to Fox 2 after leaving the hospital where he visited his dad. It's been several days since the victim was viciously beaten by as many as a dozen people.
"The doctor said, 'I can't tell you if he's going to remember you or your daughter,'" Joseph Utash told Fox 2. "That's hard but we know my dad's a fighter. It takes a real bad person to do that. I couldn't even do that to the people that did this to my dad."
Police say Utash stopped to help a 10 year old boy he hit with his pickup truck on Detroit's east side. But his son is not sure the story is that simple. Fox 2 has surveillance video from a nearby gas station of the moments just before and after the beating. Joseph Utash has seen the unedited video and he says it shows the children playing a dangerous game, stepping out into the street and then running back before the cars come.
"My personal opinion is they were all out there playing with cars," he told Fox 2. "I watched the last kid in the road touch a van and the kid is just like sitting there sticking his foot out in the road and soon as a car comes by he puts his foot back on the curb. The next thing you know my dad's [truck] comes by and the second kid in the row of four people steps out right in front of my dad's truck."
The 10 year old was treated and released from the hospital with a broken leg. Police have not confirmed what the video shows but many wonder if it captured racial tension at its worst. The family will not comment publicly about what they think.
When it all comes out in the wash, I think you will find it WAS racially motivated to attack the white guy. These teens (just like knockout game players) are all just looking for a reason to beat up a white guy. He was in their territory and hit one of them. In their minds, they could beat him up. They get away with it all the time so why would this be any different. Sure they apparently got caught, but a lawyer will get them out of it or plead it down to nothing, claiming they were abused as children (or they are just mislead children)...or some other bs. They should pay the guys medical bills out of their drug money.
I thought the majority here was FOR vigilante justice...
Oh Grass Hopper, you have come so far and yet have quite a distance yet to travel.
Hang in there Little Buddy, there's always hope.
------------------ Ron Isn't it strange that after a bombing, everyone blames the bomber, his upbringing, his environment, his culture, his mental state but … after a shooting, the problem is the gun?
My Uncle Frank was a staunch Conservative and voted straight Republican until the day he died in Chicago. Since then he has voted Democrat. Shrug
Anymore, if you dont feel absolutely safe getting out where the accident is, and your cars movable, Id call police on the cell to report it and tell them where Im at...somewhere away from the scene. Cops told me that its not hit and run or leaving the scene if you immediately call and tell them if you felt threatened.
If I remember correctly, it's even written that way in Georgia's Rules of the Road.
As for hate crime, I try not to get involved in that discussion, but it's getting very difficult to keep quiet.
Unless the guy dies or ends up in a coma or paralyzed, I predict they walk out of the jail with little or no time at all. After all its their first offense and they are good kids. Their mom, dad and friends say so.
Unless the guy dies or ends up in a coma or paralyzed, I predict they walk out of the jail with little or no time at all. After all its their first offense and they are good kids. Their mom, dad and friends say so.
Sad but true, the little saints will probably walk.
They have raised $100,000 through donations to help with his medical bills. The really sad part is that a nurse packing heat is the one that saved him. If she hadn't stopped them they would have killed him.
They have raised $100,000 through donations to help with his medical bills. The really sad part is that a nurse packing heat is the one that saved him. If she hadn't stopped them they would have killed him.
That nurse is a saint. She was the only thing between him and death. From the news reports I have read she is planning on moving out of the area because of the violence. It isn't just the occasional whites that get caught up in the violence. The blacks in the area take a lot of abuse too. Someday maybe we will get serious about cracking down on these type of crimes whether they happen to whites or blacks.
I think it is also telling that the police chief of Detroit has recently said that people should defend themselves with their own handguns since the police cannot be there soon enough in times of trouble.
I think the problem with neighborhoods like this is pack mentality takes over. It is kind of like the Coyotes we have around here. You have one, and they tend to keep to themselves and be rather timid. You get them in a pack, however, and they will become aggressive enough to move in close and attack your pets and other farm animals. I think in areas like Michigan where there a large amount of blacks you see the same thing happen. Their violent nature comes out, and a person should have their guards up at all times when around them. I don't think this is a hate crime, rather than just a genetic pre-disposition to violence rearing its ugly head.
[This message has been edited by loafer87gt (edited 04-10-2014).]
Wonzey Saffold, age 30: James Davis, age 24: Bruce Wimbush Jr., age 17: Latrez Cummings, age 19: Assault with intent to murder and assault with intent to do great bodily harm.
(unnamed juvenile), age 16: Assault and ethnic intimidation.
Originally posted by loafer87gt: I think the problem with neighborhoods like this is pack mentality takes over. It is kind of like the Coyotes we have around here. You have one, and they tend to keep to themselves and tend to be rather timid. You get them in a pack, however, and they will become aggressive enough to move in close and attack your pets and other farm animals. I think in areas like Michigan where there a large amount of blacks you see the same thing happen. Their violent nature comes out, and a person should be have their guards up at all times when around them. I don't think this is a hate crime, rather than just a genetic pre-disposition to violence rearing its ugly head.
Interesting hypothesis. Has a control group or baseline population been defined to use for comparison in a rigorous, statistics-based analysis? A sample drawn from a collocated Muslim community? I'm getting a whiff of "new PhD thesis" here. Like "Chi-squared elimination of the null hypothesis in a violence-propensity assay applied to genetically differentiated geospatially proximate urban neighborhoods".. University of Toronto? Department of Anthropology, or Sociology? IMWTK.
[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 04-10-2014).]
Their mom, dad and friends say so.
