Wednesday, April 9, 2014

It's taken a week to find out the good Samaritan had a gun.


The pistol-toting 'Angel of Mercy' that saved a driver from an angry Detroit mob


 
Deborah Hughes tells her story in this edition of The Americans with Charlie LeDuff.
Deborah Hughes tells her story in this edition of The Americans with Charlie LeDuff.

DETROIT (WJBK) -Almost one week has passed since the brutal attack of a driver in Detroit who stopped to help a little boy he had accidentally just hit with his car.

In a bankrupt city with too few police, authorities are working fast to bring justice. Three people have been charged with assault - two adults and one teenager. A second teenager is in custody awaiting charges.

Police are still seeking several others to answer for the crime the city's mayor has called "senseless".

As many as 10 - 12 people are believed to have participated in the beating while dozens of others stood by and watched - saying nothing, doing nothing.

Except one.

Deborah Hughes lives across the street. The retired nurse may have saved the life of that driver, Steve Utash. She broke up the angry mob that was beating him. Detroit Police Chief James Craig knocked on the woman's door and personally called her a "Detroit hero."

She tells her story in this edition of The Americans with Charlie LeDuff. Watch the full story in the video player above.

Authorities are broadening the spectrum of the investigation, considering charging the suspects with a hate crime.

Dontae Hutson, who lives in the area, says rage - not race - motivated the attack.

Utash is white and is from Clinton Township, which is about 25 miles northeast of Detroit. He is still in critical condition in a medically induced coma.

The 10-year-old boy Utash hit is said to have stepped off the curb in front of his car. He has been treated for a non life-threatening leg injury.




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