While Roseville tree trimmer Steve Utash lies unconscious at St. John Hospital with numerous head injuries, "Detroit suffers, too, again," Rochelle Riley writes in an emotional Page One column in the Free Press.
Bankruptcy won’t kill Detroit; things like this might. . . .
As important as it is to make sure people don’t steal scrap metal, it is more important that Detroit have a zero-tolerance policy on people stealing lives.
Wednesday's street assault occurred near a Clark gas station at Balfour and Morang on the city's east side.
Utash, 54. was beaten Wednesday afternoon at Morang and Balfour after his pickup hit 10-year-old David Harris, who had stepped off a curb. When the driver stopped and ran back, a mob of bystanders stomped, beat and robbed him. No arrests have been announced yet as police seek the assailants.
Riley calls for harsh punishments to send a strong signal.
The greatest hope for Detroit is that the police find, and the prosecutor try, and a jury convict, every person who attacked Utash.
May they all serve many, many years in prison. . . .
Those men’s homes should be seized — to pay Utash’s medical bills.
Those men should be banned from living in Detroit when they are released from prison.
And how we treat them should be a lesson for anyone else who doesn’t understand that in the Detroit we’re building, there is no room for that kind of violence, no room for that kind of hate, no room for them.
Related coverage Deadline Detroit:
- Arrests Begin in Widely Condemned Attack on Driver Steve Utash
- Dawsey: Beating Prompts Callous, Offensive Fictions About Race
Steve Utash
Family fund-raiser online
Mandi Marie Utash of Warren is collecting donations at this GoFundMe page to cover her uninsured dad's medical costs.
"Please help the family raise money to pay his medical expenses," she posts. "Your monetary help is greatly appreciated and your prayers more so."
Nearly 1,800 people gave more than $76,700 during the first two days. "This tragedy is NOT about color," donor Bernice Malinowski comments today at the site. "It’s about evil people against good people."
