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 Steve Utash, 54, has been taken off a ventilator and is starting
to speak, his daughter said in a post on GoFundMe, a crowdfunding
website where more than $161,000 has been raised to help pay for
Utash's medical bills.
"This is a long road ahead, but the end of the road will be worth
it," Manti Utash wrote on Friday.
About a dozen bystanders attacked Utash on April 2, after he got out
of his truck to check on a 10-year-old boy he hit accidentally after
the child darted into the street, police said.
The child, David Harris, was treated for a leg injury and released
from hospital a day after the incident.
Utash's daughter said her father is delirious, affected by pain
medication, but is able to wiggle his toes on command and can answer
yes or no questions.
"He also keeps flashing back to the assault, screaming 'help' and
"please get them off me," she wrote.
Four suspects have been charged with assault with intent to murder
and assault with intent to do great bodily harm, according to Wayne
County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. A $500,000 cash bond was set for each
of the four, Worthy said.
Prosecutors also charged a 16-year-old as a juvenile with assault
with intent to do great bodily harm and ethnic intimidation, a hate
crime. The suspected assailants are black and Utash is white.
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Prosecutors have not discussed possible motives for the attack and
the police investigation remains open.
On Thursday, a vigil for Utash was attended by hundreds, including
his children and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, according to local
media.
"The Utash family has every reason to be angry," he said. "Instead,
they stepped up and called for compassion. Tonight, we stand
united."
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee;
editing by Cynthia
Johnston and Gunna Dickson)
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