Florida Man Stops to Help Crash Victim Near Disney World, Gets Brutally Attacked for His Trouble
No good deed goes unpunished, and in Central Florida it seems this is more of a legal warning than a rant. Hans Hamilton was minding his own business heading north on the 429 Expressway near Walt Disney World when he spotted a white Lexus kissing the guard rail a little too much. Being the kind of person most of us pretend to be, he stepped aside to help.
This decision landed him in the hospital with a brain hemorrhage, a concussion, four broken ribs, and a medical bill that would make anyone sick to their stomach. His Tesla, whose cameras captured the entire ordeal, also got worse for wear because the man he stopped to help had used its hood and roof as a personal trampoline before things got even uglier.
“This person tried to kill me,” Hamilton said later. “I don’t want anyone else to experience what I did.” Hamilton has since started GoFundMe Living paycheck to paycheck, his family is now looking downwards to help pay for the mountain of medical and automobile expenses. The irony of needing to crowdfund after being punished for being a good person is not lost on anyone with a conscience.
Things Tesla Cameras Capture (and You Can’t See)
When Hamilton first pulled over, the driver of the Lexus, later identified as 44-year-old Daniel Coman, appeared to have staggered out of his car and collapsed on the grass. Still. He looked very much like someone who needed help. However, as soon as Hamilton got out of his Tesla, Coman miraculously recovered, jumped to his feet and began running towards the car.
Coman jumped onto the hood and roof of Hamilton’s Tesla, collapsing the windshield, before knocking Hamilton to the ground. He punched Hamilton repeatedly in the head, face, neck and back for about 30 seconds. Hamilton eventually managed to break free by striking Coman in the throat; All things considered, it seems like a pretty reasonable response to being ambushed on the side of the highway.
Arrest, Bond, and the Part That Will Frustrate You
When an Orange County deputy arrived and tried to take Coman into custody, Coman approached and attacked the officer in what the arrest report diplomatically called an “aggressive fighting style.” Still battered from the beating he had just taken, Hamilton helped wrestle Coman so the deputy could handcuff him. The man literally helped arrest his own attacker. This is a devotion to civic duty that deserves its own category.
Coman was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting a police officer with violence, assault on a law enforcement officer, battery and criminal mischief. Investigators also linked him to another hit-and-run crash two miles south of the scene and flagged him as a suspect in a similar incident that occurred early the same morning. While speaking to the MP, Coman claimed he was speaking only Spanish, although he had been speaking English to Hamilton moments earlier. Lawmakers initially requested that he be held without bail. A judge set it at $5,000.
Coman was unable to make his first court appearance because he was hospitalized for an undisclosed reason and remained in the Orange County Jail as of Thursday. Hamilton, meanwhile, is recovering from injuries that would sideline anyone and is facing bills that have nothing to do with anything he did wrong.
If you would like to support Hamilton’s recovery, GoFundMe is active. And if you see a crashed car on a Florida highway, maybe, just maybe, call 911 and leave it to the professionals. Days of roadside heroism apparently come with risks no one put in the brochure.
