Son Of Beating Victim Says He Was Robbed At Strip Club

DETROIT (WWJ) - While Steve Utash continues his recovery from an April 2 beating by a mob in Detroit, his son Joe is in the news stating that he was robbed at a Detroit strip club over the weekend.

Police were called to the Coliseum Adult Entertainment club on Eight Mile and a report was filed by Joe Utash claiming that a striper had stolen money from him.

Police have not confirmed the claim.

Some are questioning if the money he was using may have come from a fundraiser held over the weekend at a bar in Clinton Township - a fundraiser intended to raise money for his father's mounting medical bills.

The daughter of  Utash, Mandi Emerick, told The Detroit News that every dime raised has been accounted for.

"Maybe it was wrong for my brother to go to a strip club with all the media's eyes on him, but who really cares? It was his money," Emerick told The Detroit News. "If my sister and me go out and spend money in the mall, is the media going to report that we stole it from our father's fundraiser? This whole thing is ridiculous."

Emerick said her brother is not employed, and that he likely used money from his unemployment check at the strip club.

"I know for a fact he didn't touch a dime of any of the money that was raised," she said. "These are people's lives the media is hurting. We had all this good news about my father, and then this story gets put out there."

On Tuesday it was reported that Steve Utash was being transferred from St. John Hospital to the 84-bed Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, where he will continue to recover from severe head injuries suffered in the beating.