White man beaten unconscious by mob in Detroit after hitting boy with truck; Police rule NOT HATE CRIME

The short story here is that a boy in Detroit jumped out in front of moving traffic, per surveillance footage, and was hit by a pickup truck. The man who hit him, Steve Utash, happened to be white and when he got out of his truck to attend to the boy, he was attacked by a mob of 10-12 people, both teens and adults, and beaten unconscious. If it weren’t for a nurse who was on scene, he could have been killed.

According to CBS Detroit, witness accounts said the attackers were black and the son of the man beaten unconscious said his father could have been attacked because he was white:

One woman stepped in to help Steven Utash. Nurse Debra Hughes intervened and stopped the attack: “He was already down, bleeding from the mouth and the nose – so there wasn’t nothing else they could do to him but kill him,” she said.

“Then EMS came and I kept him calm, I kept his hands down and everything so he could be comfortable,” said Hughes. “He had the biggest gash on his head I ever seen – he was bleeding from the mouth and he was unconscious when I first got there … being a registered nurse, I thought I could go out and help him.”

Joseph Utash said he believes his father was intentionally targeted or even worse, that skin color might have played a role. Based on witness accounts, the attackers were African American.

“As far as a hate crime, it might be,” he said. “You know, it’s like you go in Detroit and you’re white, you don’t belong. Seriously. I’ve been pulled over by police before and they’re like ‘Get back across 8 Mile,’ like I’m not supposed to be over there, like I’m not allowed to go in Detroit.”

Daily Mail reports that the police dismissed the idea that it was a hate crime:

Police immediately dismissed the notion.

‘We have no evidence to suggest it’s a hate crime,’ Moreno told MailOnline.

They also report that Utash is in a coma and may not survive:

Utash is in extremely critical condition with severe head wounds, Detroit Police spokesperson Jennifer Moreno told MailOnline. It is not known if he will survive.

Read more at the DAILY MAIL.


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