(CNN) — A 17-year old has been arrested after police say he was among 10 to 12 people who attacked a driver on the East Side of Detroit last week, leaving him in a coma, Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a news release Monday.
Bruce Edward Wimbush attacked Steven Utash, 54-year old grandfather, after a car accident, Detroit Police Sgt. Michael Woody told CNN. He was charged with assault with intent to murder, Worthy said.
Utash was driving through the east side of town in his truck when he inadvertently struck a young boy who had stepped into the road, Woody said.
Utash immediately stopped his vehicle to help the boy when he was allegedly “severely beaten” with “fists and feet,” the prosecutor’s release said.
A second suspect, a 16-year old boy, was also arrested in connection to the attack, but prosecutors are still deciding if he will be charged as an adult.
Utash remains hospitalized in a medically induced coma.
“It’s hard to see him lying in the bed, not knowing who we are, where he is or what’s going on,” Felicia Utash, the victim’s daughter, said about her father.
She, her brother and sister set up a GoFundMe page for their father, who they say doesn’t have insurance. Donations have exceed $115,000.
The prosecutor’s office said the boy who was struck by Utash’s truck was taken to a local hospital and treated for a leg injury. Woody said that he was unsure of the extent of the 10-year-old’s injuries but that he is at home recovering from the accident.
Police have not revealed a motive for the attack on Utash but said the investigation is widening and they expect to make other arrests.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and City Council President Brenda Jones issued a statement Friday in response to outrage over the incident, asking for calm and patience from all Detroiters.
“This senseless vigilante style attack is not the essence of who we are as Detroiters and will not be tolerated,” the statement said.
