A 55-year-old Westland man is facing an aggravated assault charge after allegedly beating up an 84-year-old man during a road rage incident in a Kroger parking lot.

The incident occurred Friday in a Kroger parking lot on Dearborn's west side. Dearborn police said witness accounts and surveillance footage helped them arrest the suspect just a day later.

Watch the video report below: Man charged with assault after elderly man beaten in Dearborn parking lot road rage incident

Judo Whittaker, 84, remains hospitalized following the attack that left him with a concussion and needing hip replacement surgery.

"I hit Michigan Avenue and all of a sudden, it dawned on me, dang there's the mailboxes, but I can't back this guy up, he's right behind me," Whittaker said.

Watch our extended interview with Judo Whittaker in the video player below: Web extra: Man recalls beating after road rage incident in Dearborn

From his hospital bed, Whittaker explained how the driver in the truck behind him became enraged as he slowly pulled out of the Kroger parking lot while staying in the right lane on Michigan Avenue. Whittaker was attempting to turn back into the lot to drop off mail.

"He pulls beside me beeping his horn like a raging maniac and calling me names," Whittaker said. "He's calling me names, throwing his finger at me and all that bull****, and I threw it back."

Whittaker said the driver then abruptly turned in front of him and hit the brakes. Whittaker went around the truck to get to the mailbox.

"I wasn't quite out of the car and he comes running, he gets to my car real quick, jumped out of the truck and got to me that quick, honest to God," Whittaker said. "He gets deep into my face as close as possible and I told him 'man, get your face out of my face.' He's only an inch away."

According to Whittaker, when the man lunged at him, he pushed him away. A brief fight ensued, ending with Whittaker falling hard to the ground.

"I'm moaning and groaning. I really hit hard," Whittaker said.

The attacker fled the scene while bystanders rushed to help Whittaker, who was taken to the hospital with a concussion and needed surgery for a hip replacement.

"When he was in back of me, he had to have known I had a handicap plate on that car. He had to have known it," Whittaker said.

A lifelong Dearborn resident, Whittaker is well known in town, regularly meeting with his morning coffee crew twice a week activities that will now be much harder for him.

"All I know is I gotta take it easy, can't lift any weights, no nothing," Whittaker said.

After Whittaker's niece posted about the incident on Facebook, thousands of people shared the story. Thanks to witnesses and surveillance video, the suspect was arrested the next day.

In a statement, Dearborn's Police Chief said: "Such violence is completely unacceptable in our city and we will use all resources to pursue justice for victims and their families."

The suspect, John Kreitner, was arraigned on a $20,000 cash bond. He's due back in court next week.

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The National Weather Service has confirmed a tornado touched down in Fraser during the first batch of storms Wednesday, causing significant damage to homes and power lines.

The bulk of the damage occurred in the area of 14 Mile Road and Garfield, where mangled trampolines, power lines and tree branches littered yards, and shingles were ripped off homes.

Watch Brett Kast's video report below National Weather Service confirms tornado touched down in Fraser Watch Ryan Marshall's video reports on the clean-up below Clean-up underway after severe storms, tornado in Fraser Storm clean up after tornado touches down in Fraser

Multiple videos captured the tornado as it moved through the area, sending debris flying through the air and forcing residents to take shelter.

"A carport for a house went up in the air and it was flying through the air and I could see it and was like uh oh, time to go in the basement," Cody Potyczka said.

Potyczka is one of many residents in the neighborhood who saw the tornado approach and sought safety in their basements.

"My girlfriend came in and said 'hey, we have to go downstairs' and I said 'why' and she said 'we're having a tornado,'" Gaetano Rizzo said.

Rizzo's home suffered significant damage when a tree completely crushed the sun room at the back of his house. Repairs have been delayed due to safety concerns.

"We have a power line that's on the tree, so we haven't been able to touch it," Rizzo said.

Watch video from Devon Shelton in Fraser. Warning: Graphic language

Multiple DTE Energy crews have been working throughout the neighborhood to repair downed power lines damaged during the storm.

"There's trampolines in power lines, multiple trampolines just in the air stuck on something," Jacob Bondarek said.

Many neighbors came outside to assess the damage after the storm passed, with homes throughout the area left without power.

Watch video taken by a viewer in Macomb County below: WATCH: Viewer video taken during severe storms in Macomb County

For some residents like David Selbmann, the damage requires personal repairs before power can be restored.

"If I don't have this put back up and repaired, I won't have power until it's done," Selbmann said.

Despite the damage to his own property, Selbmann acknowledged others faced worse situations.

"We're lucky as you can see from over there they're not so lucky," he said.

Across the street, one home had approximately a quarter of its roof torn off. Multiple homes with damaged roofs were already being repaired by the afternoon.

"We redecked it, tarped everything," David Hall of Premier Roofing and Renovations said.

Hall and other workers rushed to patch up homes ahead of more rain expected overnight. The afternoon storms had already flooded roadways in nearby Clinton Township, requiring emergency services to perform a water rescue.

"It's my understanding there was a car off to the side of the road in a ditch and the occupant was unable to exit the vehicle and they had to get the fire department out to do a water rescue," Macomb County Emergency Manager Brandon Lewis said.

Despite the destruction, cleanup efforts in Fraser have been swift, with neighbors helping each other recover.

"It's just heartbreaking. I took a walk to see if anyone needed help, but it seems like most people got things under control at this point," Bondarek said.

The National Weather Service will continue surveying the damage and is expected to provide more specific details about the tornado by Thursday morning.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

A 31-year-old Dearborn Heights man remains hospitalized in the intensive care unit after being seriously injured by a suspected drunk driver.

Watch Brett Kast's video report: Dearborn Heights man in ICU after crash with suspected drunk driver

Mehdi Kadour, known as Mo, was driving home from his job as an MRI technician at Garden City Hospital around 3:45 a.m. on Sunday when security footage captured another car running a stop sign, passing a do not enter sign, and crashing into Kadour's vehicle.

WEB VIDEO: Surveillance video shows suspected drunk driving crash WEB VIDEO: Surveillance video shows suspected drunk driving crash

The young woman driving the at-fault vehicle is suspected of driving drunk.

"He really couldn't even see her coming or have time to react, it just breaks my heart," said Talia Atat, Kadour's cousin.

Kadour suffered a head injury, internal injuries, broken ribs, and has required multiple blood transfusions since the crash.

"Anyone who knew him knows how kind he is and how caring, and it's just crazy how the innocent lives are always the ones paying the price of these careless drivers," Atat said.

Dearborn Heights police believe the female driver who caused the accident was intoxicated, but are awaiting blood test results for confirmation. Charges are expected soon.

"The drivers that cause the accident get to live and move on, and he's literally fighting for his life, and it's probably going to be a while to get back to how he was," Atat said.

The crash site has become all too familiar with such incidents. Nearby resident Janice Love was awakened by the collision and noted this wasn't the first serious accident in the area.

"I came out here, and the car, the rear end was out here," Love said.

Love revealed that just last year, another vehicle tore through the same fence and struck her home.

"I don't even enjoy sitting out here anymore, you never know if a car is going to come in," Love said.

For Kadour's family, the incident highlights the devastating consequences of irresponsible driving decisions.

"I just really hope those who see this, they do drink or whatever it is, they just be more careful on the roads and not even drive. Uber is always an option, calling a friend that could drive, it's never worth the price of a life at all," Atat said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Residents in Detroit's Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood are raising concerns about a new Great Lakes Water Authority project being built in their residential area.

Work is already underway to reroute underground utilities for a new pump station on Freud Street, though the project itself still needs city council approval. Many residents say they were caught off guard by the construction.

Watch the video report below: Detroit pump station project raises concerns, GLWA says it's crucial in Jefferson-Chalmers

LeJuan Council is the founder of the Detroit Area Disaster Recovery Group, a nonprofit located on the same street. She started the organization in response to massive flooding that hit Jefferson-Chalmers in 2021 an event still fresh in the minds of many community members.

"Our concern is for sure the 2021 flooding event and how these infrastructure plans improve our chance, so we don't have to go through it again, but it's seeming like the two topics are not correlating," Council said.

While this new project doesn't add more storm water capacity, GLWA officials say it's crucial to their system, particularly to the Freud Pump Station located just a few hundred feet from the new project site.

"Freud pump station is one of our more critical pump stations. It's a major pump station that provide storm water protection," said Navid Mehram, CEO of Wastewater Operations at GLWA.

Mehram explained that the new station will be used to divert flow and isolate the existing station, allowing crews to enter the sewers for repairs and maintenance. The current station was built in 1955 and pumps 2 billion gallons per day.

"For us to be able to appropriately do the maintenance necessary to ensure the reliability of those pump stations, we have to make sure we can do the appropriate maintenance on them," Mehram said.

GLWA is now holding community meetings and says they've shortened the building height by 8 feet based on feedback. However, residents still have frustrations and unanswered questions more than four years after the major flooding event.

"Of course we want to see infrastructure, of course we want to see improvement it makes us feel some solace. But if it's not going to have a direct tie into 2021 or our regular sewer backups, then what is it all for?" Council said.

GLWA officials say they still need the property rezoned and will need approval by city council. They don't expect the new station to be operational for at least a few years.

This story was reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.