Left inset: John Kreitner (Dearborn Police Department). Right inset: Judo Whitaker (WXYZ/YouTube). The Kroger parking lot in Dearborn, Mich., where John Kreitner allegedly attacked 84-year-old Judo Whittaker (WXYZ/YouTube).
An 85-year-old man in Michigan was beaten and sent to the hospital last week in a “completely unacceptable” road rage attack in a Kroger parking lot after pulling out in front of someone too slowly, cops and the victim say.
“He pulls beside me beeping his horn like a raging maniac and calling me names,” Judo Whittaker told local ABC affiliate WXYZ from his hospital room about the Fourth of July incident at a Kroger in Dearborn. “He”s calling me names, throwing his finger at me and all that bulls—,” the octogenarian said about his alleged attacker, John Kreitner, 55, of Westland.
“He comes running, he gets to my car real quick,” Whittaker said. “He gets deep into my face as close as possible and I told him, ‘Man, get your face out of my face.'”
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Kreitner was allegedly “only an inch away” from Whittaker when he began lunging at him and prompted a tussle, with Whittaker saying he fell to the ground and later needed a hip replacement.
Whittaker allegedly pulled out in front of Kreitner while leaving the Kroger parking lot, which sparked the attack, according to cops.
“I’m moaning and groaning,” Whittaker recalled. “I really hit hard.”
Dearborn Police said in a press release that officers responded to the area of Michigan Avenue near Nowlin Street, within the vicinity of the Kroger parking lot, after receiving reports about the road rage incident. Whittaker was transported to a nearby hospital for serious injuries.
Witness reports and surveillance footage from neighboring businesses helped lead police investigators to identify and arrest Kreitner on July 5.
“Such violence is completely unacceptable in our city and we will use all resources to pursue justice for victims and their families,” wrote DPD Chief Issa Shahin. “We again thank witnesses who aided our investigation and the local business for the use of their surveillance footage that helped us identify and arrest the suspect.”
Kreitner was arraigned at the 19th District Court on Monday on charges of aggravated assault. He was ordered held on a $20,000 cash bond.
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