Morang and Balfour.jpg

Cars enter local business at the scene of an attack on Wednesday at the street corners of Morang and Balfour on Thursday, April 3, 2014 in Detroit. A suburban Detroit man was in critical condition Thursday with severe head injuries after a neighborhood mob beat and kicked him when he stopped to check on a 10-year-old boy who stepped from a curb into the path of his pickup. The 54-year-old man, whose name was not released, was being treated at a Detroit hospital as police scoured the east side neighborhood where he was attacked Wednesday afternoon. The boy, David Harris, was expected to recover from his injuries, according to Desmond Key, who said he was the 10-year-old's uncle. (AP Photo/Detroit News, Clarence Tabb Jr)

(AP Photo/Detroit News, Clarence Tabb Jr)

DETROIT, MI -- After the mob beating of Steven Utash in Detroit, many speculated race may have motivated the attack.

Detroit police aren't counting out the possibility.

"We are widening the scope of the investigation," said Detroit Police Officer Jennifer Moreno Monday afternoon when asked if the attack is being considered a possible hate crime. "We are considering all aspects."

Detroit police are now saying that previous reports, most stemming from comments made to media by relatives, that Utash had been robbed of a cell phone, wallet and other items are untrue.

Moreno said she did not know where the misconception that a robbery occurred originated.

"As far as a hate crime, it might be," Joseph Utash, Steven Utash's son, told CBS Detroit this past weekend. "You know, it's like you go in Detroit and you're white, you don't belong. Seriously. I've been pulled over by police before and they're like 'Get back across 8 Mile,' like I'm not supposed to be over there, like I'm not allowed to go in Detroit."

Steven Utash, who is white, was beaten nearly to death by a mob of 10-12 people in a predominantly black section of Detroit after accidentally striking David Harris, a 10-year-old boy who is black, while driving near a gas station at Morang and Balfour in Detroit Wednesday.

Harris suffered a broken leg. When Utash parked and exited his pickup to help, the attack ensued.

Detroit police said Thursday there is no evidence to indicate the attack was racially motivated.

Bruce Edward Wimbush Jr., 17, of Detroit, is charged with assault in the attack. Police also arrested an unnamed juvenile and are searching for other culprits. Minutes before Wimbush's arraignment Monday, the hearing was delayed at the request of the Detroit Police Department without explanation.

Detroit-based attorney Yvonne Siferd, director of the Victims Services Department with Equality Michigan, was unwilling to speculate whether the circumstances of Utash's case involved characteristics of a hate crime.

"A hate crime is when, at its root, it’s a crime motivated solely by hate or bias against a particular person for a particular characteristic," she said. "The crime would not have happened but for the animus or hatred that the person feels toward that group.

"I think that hate crime charges are not utilized very often, but in terms of whether or not those kinds of charges are filed without any kind of real indicators, generally no. A lot of times in my career, law enforcement is initially a bit wary of attaching the term, 'hate crime' to it until they've done a more thorough investigation."

Siferd said most police departments use a report form with a box to be checked if officers believe bias played a role in the crime. If that box is checked, a more thorough investigation is conducted.

Equality Michigan, an advocacy organization focused primarily on same-sex marriage equality, is not involved in the Utash case.

"A person is guilty of ethnic intimidation if that person maliciously, and with specific intent to intimidate or harass another person because of that person's race, color, religion, gender, or national origin," according to the Michigan Penal Code.

Read the full description of a hate crime in Michigan here.