From Hospital Bed to Prison Cell for Beaten Molest Suspect
Badly beaten man goes to jail on molestation charges
Broward Sheriff's Office
Luke Petruschke
This is the face of the man who police say was beaten within an inch of his life after he was caught molesting a 3-year-old boy by the kid's father in Davie.
Luke Petruschke spent the weekend in a coma in the hospital, recovering from the vicious thrashing he got at the hands of vigilante dad Manuel Vega and his friend Krish Carter.
Petruschke was released from the hospital this morning and immediately taken into custody and charged with molesting Vega's son.
Police said Vega, 27, and Carter, 43, beat Petruschke with a concrete block after Vega's son told him Petruschke, who had been staying with Vega, had fondled him.
Petruschke's booking photo shows just how severe the beatdown was. His right eye appears swollen shut, and cuts and stitches are scattered about his face.
Vega and Carter have both been charged with attempted murder. All three men are being held without bond. Petruschke, 38, has two prior arrests on sex charges, acording to police.
Yesterday, Vega's girlfriend spoke out about the attack, tearfully lamenting that Vega is behind bars.
"We need Mauel back here," said the woman, who did not want to be identified. "My son is a victim twice in this situation, he was a victim of this horrible act and he's also a victim of losing his father right now, and he needs his father."
She said Vega did what any good father would do under those circumstances.
"Human instinct is to protect your child, protect your children, and that's exactly what Manuel did," she said.
Not so fast according to police, who said Vega's revenge went too far.
"It's just not Mr. Vega or Mr. Carter's place to decide who gets what punishment right there on the street," said Sgt. Greg Gasse, with the Davie Police Department. "Although a lot of people understand it, a lot of people say it, I think a lot of people also realize that there's a bounds which you can't really go beyond and in this case it seems that Mr. Vega and Mr. Carter crossed that line.
"They severely beat him, it's not a matter of they just used enough force to detain him for police or something like that, they went well beyond that amount."
