Detroit motorist Steve Utash, who was beaten by several men after he accidentally hit a 10-year old boy with his car, is reportedly not doing well in the hospital and is having trouble with his motor functions. Meanwhile, a judge declared on Monday that the four men accused of injuring Utash will stand trial for attempted murder, despite claims by their attorney that the case doesn’t warrant such a high charge.
19-year old Latrez Cummings, 24-year old James Davis, 30-year old Wonzey Saffold, and 17-year old Bruce Wimbush have been described by witnesses as a “mob”, running over to the scene of the accident and screaming at one another to “get” the driver. Utash was kicked and punched repeatedly by the men, who knew the little boy and wanted immediate revenge.
“One or two may not be enough to kill anyone, but a combination may be enough to cause one’s death,” said Judge Thomas Jackson.
Police chief: Investigation into severe beating of motorist widens to include hate crime.
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— The Detroit News (@detroitnews) April 7, 2014
#Detroit Mayor Duggan says motorist's beating was 'senseless'. http://t.co/p6YgME9C3C
— WDET 101.9FM (@wdet) April 5, 2014
The Detroit police chief said early in the investigation that they would be looking into the possibility that the beating was race-related, as Utash is white and the suspects are all African-American, but Deborah Hughes, a nurse who intervened and helped save both Utash and the boy’s lives, says she doesn’t believe that was the case.
“I didn’t hear anything racial, but it’s hard to tell everything that was being said because people were all yelling at the same time,” Hughes said. “I know some people were screaming, ‘You hit my cousin,’ and ‘You hit my nephew,’ but I didn’t hear anyone say ‘You white so-and-so’ or anything like that.”
54-year old Utash is reportedly disoriented and could only walk a few steps with assistance recently after falling into a coma following the beating. The boy reportedly suffered non-life threatening injuries to his legs.
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