DETROIT (WWJ) -- A Detroit man was charged with shooting and injuring an 18-year-old River Rouge man with autism who got lost after an Uber driver dropped him off, police said.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy charged 47-year-old Robert Lequan Pugh of Detroit with Assault with Intent to Murder, Assault with Intent to do Great Bodily Harm, Carrying a Weapon with Unlawful Intent, and three counts of Felony Firearm.
Police said Pugh allegedly shot the victim in a neighborhood on Lenox Street and Warren, near I-94 and Conner, the afternoon of April 9.
According to police, the victim was "mistakenly" dropped off in the area by an Uber. The victim took a photo of a home in the area to send to a relative so his family would be able to find him. The defendant then confronted him, according to police.
As the victim started to walk away, police said the defendant pulled out a handgun and fired multiple shots, striking him in the lower back.
The victim was rushed to the hospital, where he was treated for his injuries.
The defendant turned himself in to Detroit's Fifth Precinct on Tuesday, April 15.
"It is hard for me to fathom the utter lack of compassion and empathy in some people," Prosecutor Kym Worthy said. "The alleged facts in this case are disturbing and completely devoid of humaneness."
WWJ's Darrylin Horne spoke with the teen's sister, Violet Woosck, who said if the shooter did feel remorse, he should have turned himself in immediately after the shooting.
As for her brother, Woosck said he'd doing a lot better.
They were able to bring him home from the hospital just yesterday.
"I try to tell him to sit down a lot, and he won't sit down," Woosck said, in an interview with Horne on Thursday. "He's up walking and he's doing good; he's happy to be out of the hospital now."
The bullets were so close to her brother's spine, Woosck said, there was concern about paralysis early on. But, she said, her brother seems to be out of the woods. "It was a big thing, so they were very surprised when he was able to, you know, move his feet and get up to walk."
Pugh was arraigned Thursday afternoon in 36th District Court, where bond was set at $100,000 cash/surety with a GPS tether.
A bond re-determination hearing is scheduled for April 21, and a Probable Cause Conference is scheduled for April 28.
