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67-year-old man brutally beaten after fender bender on Detroit's west side

Updated  September 2, 2020 10:49pm EDT
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 2 Detroit

DETROIT (FOX 2) - An older Detroit man can't talk or move after being beaten by a stranger following a fender bender.

"To come through a lot of challenges that most men face growing up in the city to, at 67, endure this," said Sherita Henderson, the victim's daughter.

Suspect wanted after brutal beating of 67-year-old man after Detroit fender bender

The two got out to check the damage and that's when the suspect confronted Perry. The footage provided by Detroit police, ends just before the brutal beating.

Joe Perry is 67 and is now on a ventilator with a bleeding and swollen brain, a broken jaw, and blood clots throughout his body, a week after he was attacked. 

"This is the second time I've seen my dad in the hospital with tubes," Henderson said. "The first time he was in a diabetic coma."

Henderson says her dad is just hanging on.

"They're not even sure if he can recognize us, he's just in a blank stare," she said. 

Perry was on his way to a wedding on August 22nd. He stopped at a Citgo gas station at West Chicago and Schaefer, it's the neighborhood he grew up in.

He then got into a minor accident with another man. The two got out to check the damage and that's when the suspect confronted Perry. The footage provided by Detroit police ends just before the brutal beating.  

"Every day is just day by day, we just don't know, we are just prayerful that he is going to get through this," Henderson said.

Henderson says her dad, a retired roofer with health problems, was not looking for a fight. 

"My dad, he's a frail old man," she said. "Whoever his attacker was, could see that he could not obviously defend himself." 

Investigators want the public to take a good look at the suspect's photo. He is about 20 to 25 years old - and was driving a white, older model Ford Taurus. 

As for Perry, he's still in critical condition and doctors can't say what the future looks like. 

"Every day I've been telling him that he's still here because his only arm that's mobile, is always moving," Henderson said. "And I'm like you don't have to fight anymore you're safe."

A couple of days ago Perry went into cardiac arrest but was brought back by doctors. His family is urging anyone with any information to come forward to the police.