ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A good Samaritan who was ambushed and attacked while trying to help an apparent car crash victim believes the motorist wanted to take his life.
“He kept saying, ‘I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kill you!” Hans Hamilton told News 6 in an exclusive interview about the violent altercation.
Hamilton was driving north on the 429 Expressway near Walt Disney World on Monday when he noticed a white Lexus had crashed into a guardrail and a man lying in the grass nearby.
“I saw the body there and my immediate thought was he’s dead,” Hamilton told News 6. “So I rolled down my window and said, ‘Hey, are you okay?’ No response.”
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Moments later, video captured by cameras on Hamilton’s Tesla shows the apparent car crash victim quickly standing up and running towards the Good Samaritan’s vehicle.
“He got up once he heard my door close,” said Hamilton. “He was waiting for that door to close, and that’s when he pounced, and it just happened. I was just stunned.”
Videos show the man climbing on the Tesla’s hood and roof, shattering the windshield, and then tackling Hamilton as he tried to get back in his car.
“After he jumped on top of me, I have very little recollection,” said Hamilton. “All I kept thinking was, ‘You’re not going kill me. Fight, fight, flight!’ Nothing else.”
For nearly 30 seconds, videos show the man repeatedly punching Hamilton in the head, face, neck and back.
The good Samaritan believes he was able to subdue the attacker by hitting him in the throat.
“I was nailing that jugular as hard as I could, as many times as I could,” said Hamilton. “Clearly, I got up. And clearly he didn’t.”
When an Orange County deputy arrived, Hamilton said he and another bystander helped hold the man on the ground while the deputy handcuffed him.
“I wish that cop would have shot him,” Hamilton said. “That man was trying to kill me. He just did not succeed.”
Deputies identified the attacker as 44-year-old Daniel Coman.
Coman was arrested on charges of battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, assault on a law enforcement officer, battery and criminal mischief.
Hamilton believes prosecutors should charge Coman with attempted murder.
“In my mind, you don’t beat somebody like that without the intention of killing them,” Hamilton said.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office initially requested that Coman be held in jail without bond.
During Coman’s initial court hearing, which records show he did not attend because he was in the hospital, Circuit Court Judge Barbara Leach set bond at $5,000.
The judge also ordered Coman to have no contact with Hamilton.
A transcript of the hearing was not immediately available.
A spokesperson for Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell did not respond to an email from News 6 on Friday inquiring whether prosecutors requested a higher bond for Coman during that initial court hearing.
Representatives for Orange County Sheriff John Mina did not respond to an email from News 6 asking if the agency had concerns about the bond amount set by the judge.
“I’m terrified,” said Coman, who believes Coman’s bond amount is too low. “I don’t feel safe.”
Coman remained in jail Friday afternoon, records show.
Hamilton was taken to a hospital after the attack, where he said he was treated for a brain bleed and four broken ribs.
To help pay for his medical and auto insurance deductibles, Hamilton has set up a GoFundMe account.
“Nobody budgets for someone trying to kill you,” said Hamilton. “We don’t have tens of thousands of dollars sitting in an account. We are going to be financially in trouble.”
Despite the attack that left him sore, bruised and struggling to pay bills, Hamilton said he does not regret being a good Samaritan.
“Don’t let my story scare you,” said Hamilton. “Let it make you be cautious. But please, if we don’t stick together and help each other, we’re in trouble. Be cautious. But still remember kindness still needs to exist.”