DETROIT – A Detroit teenager who threw the first punches in a mob beating of a motorist who accidentally struck a child with his pickup truck has pleaded guilty to assault.
Prosecutors dropped an ethnic intimidation charge against the 17-year-old as part of the plea deal entered Wednesday in Wayne County Juvenile Court.
The teen is black and was one of five people charged with beating white motorist Steve Utash when Utash got out of his vehicle to help the boy he hit in April.
Utash spent days in a coma and was sent home in May after six weeks in hospitals.
The teen's case is in juvenile court because he was 16 at the time of the attack. It's the second guilty plea in the case.
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