Man Beaten After Accident While Driving Wrong Way On Vernor Highway
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) -- A 34-year-old Grosse Pointe Park man admitted to driving the wrong way on Vernor Highway in Detroit, causing an accident on Monday. He said he was then beaten by those in the vehicle that hit him.
Though nothing was mentioned about a beating when police arrived at the scene to file a report, the driver talked about it after being sent to the hospital.
Detroit police spokesman Adam Madera said once transported to the hospital, the man told police that he had been beaten and berated.
"The officers, when they got to the scene, had asked him how he got injured and he did state that he was injured through the accident at first and he had swelling to the face," Madera said.
The victim, Nate Szczerbinski, told Detroit police that several men beat him and called him racially derogatory names after he collided with their vehicle while driving the wrong way on a city street.
The white man initially told officers his injuries came from the crash. At the hospital, Szczerbinski said he was attacked and feared to tell officers at the scene because the black men who attacked him were there.
"The officers, went to the hospital to check on his condition, it was then that they were told that he was assaulted," Madera said. "The officers having the information of one of the individuals from the scene due to the accident report, then made that individual's home and made the arrest."
One 20-year-old man has been arrested and two others are being sought as police continue their investigation. Madera said that police also are investigating whether racial insults were directed at Szczerbinski.
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