No good deed goes unpunished, and apparently in Central Florida that’s less of a saying and more of a legal warning. Hans Hamilton was minding his own business, driving north on the 429 Expressway near Walt Disney World, when he saw a white Lexus that kissed the guardrail a little too hard. As most of us only pretend to be human, he reached out for help.
That decision landed him in the hospital with a brain bleed, a concussion, four broken ribs, and a stomach-churning medical bill. His Tesla, which captured the entire ordeal on its camera, also came out worse for wear, as the man he stopped to help used its hood and roof as a personal trampoline before things got worse.
“This man tried to kill me,” Hamilton later said. “I don’t want anyone else to go through what I did.” Hamilton has started a GoFundMe to help cover the mountain of medical and auto expenses his family, living paycheck to paycheck, is now facing. The irony of needing crowdfunding after being punished for being a decent person is not lost on anyone with a functioning conscience.
What the Tesla Camera Caught (And You Can’t Ignore)
When Hamilton first pulled over, the driver of the Lexus, later identified as 44-year-old Daniel Coman, appeared to have exited his car and fallen onto the grass. motionless Sounds like someone who needs a lot of help. The moment Hamilton got out of his Tesla, however, Coman apparently made a miraculous recovery, jumping up and running towards the car.
Coman jumped onto the hood and roof of Hamilton’s Tesla, caving in the windshield, before pinning Hamilton to the ground. For about 30 seconds, he repeatedly punched Hamilton in the head, face, neck and back. Hamilton finally manages to break free by punching Coman in the neck, which, all things considered, seems like a pretty reasonable response to being attacked on the side of an expressway.
Arrests, bonds, and the part that frustrates you
When an Orange County deputy arrived and tried to take Coman into custody, Coman approached the officer in what the arrest report diplomatically described as an “aggressive combative manner” and lunged at the officer. Hamilton, still battered from the beating he had just absorbed, helped wrestle Coman to the ground so the deputy could handcuff him. The man literally helped capture his own attacker. That’s a commitment to civic duty that deserves a class of its own.
Coman was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, assault on a law enforcement officer, battery, and criminal mischief. Investigators also linked him to a separate hit-and-run accident two miles south of the scene and flagged him as a suspect in a similar incident earlier that morning. While speaking with the deputy, Coman claimed he only spoke Spanish, even though he had spoken English to Hamilton minutes before. Deputies initially requested that he be held without bond. A judge set it at $5,000.
Coman missed his first court appearance because he was hospitalized for an undisclosed reason, and he remained in the Orange County Jail as of Thursday. Meanwhile, Hamilton is recovering from an injury that would sideline anyone and is facing bills that have nothing to do with his fault.
If you’d like to support Hamilton’s recovery, his GoFundMe is active. And if you see a crashed car on a Florida expressway, maybe, just maybe, call 911 and let the professionals handle it. Days of street bravado obviously come with risks that no one puts on the brochure.
