Man attacked on S.R. 429 near Horizon West

Davenport resident Hans Hamilton woke up the morning of Monday, March 30, thinking his day would be just like any other. 

He got dressed and was ready to run a few errands. He was heading to Apopka on State Road 429 near Seidel Road in Horizon West when he spotted a white car crashed into the guardrail. 

As he approached closer, he saw the driver’s side door was open and a man was lying on the ground. 

“Oh my God, that’s a body,” he said. 

He pulled over close to the man and rolled his window down, asking the man if he was OK. The man didn’t respond.

Hamilton then got out of his car in hopes of keeping the man company until help arrived. 

“That’s what a human being is supposed to do for another human being,” he said. “That’s the way I was raised.” 

A good deed, they say, never goes unpunished.

The man, later identified as Daniel Coman, got up from the ground as soon as Hamilton stepped out of the car and closed his door and ran toward the car saying, “Let me in; get me out of here,” Hamilton said. 

Coman jumped on the hood of Hamilton’s car, stomping it and the windshield. 

“I was stunned,” Hamilton said. 

Quickly processing the situation, he knew his only safe space was inside the car, but before he could get in,  Coman attacked him. 

Coman punched and kicked Hamilton repeatedly, while yelling, “I’m going to kill you.” 

Hamilton fought back.

“Within seconds, I had to make decisions, and I made the decision that I need to get to his neck,” he said. “I was taking every ounce of my energy and just hitting him in the neck to try to stop the blood flow to his brain so that he could not get up.” 

He succeeded.

Although Hamilton does not remember getting up or going back to his car, he did. 

He survived. 

“I knew that the last thing I was not going to see was the side of a road,” he said emotionally. 

But the fight was far from over. 

Hamilton suffered a brain bleed, four broken ribs, a concussion and multiple contusions. 

According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office arrest affidavit, when police arrived, Coman became visibly angry and agitated, telling the officer to get away from him. He stood up and began “walking aggressively” toward the officer, who attempted to push and hold Coman back. 

“He had the cop on his back rolling around,” Hamilton said. “I, with four broken ribs and a brain bleed, and a bystander had to help tackle the guy and roll around on the ground. It took all three of us to get this man off.” 

Coman was transported to Orlando Health Horizon West Hospital and now is in Orange County Jail facing five charges: battery on a law enforcement officer, criminal mischief, resisting an officer with violence, assault on a law enforcement officer and battery. His bond is set at $5,000, and he remains incarcerated.

Hamilton said officers told him they had arrived at the location so quickly because of earlier calls regarding the same man attempting to pull a woman out of her car. 

“He was ambushing somebody,” Hamilton said. “That was premeditated. That was a premeditated act. That was not incidental. He was waiting for a victim. The difference is, he got a survivor. I do believe his intention was to kill somebody for whatever reason, because there’s no other reason he would do that to somebody.” 

Hamilton now is left to face the financial consequences of what was supposed to be an act of a good Samaritan. 

“We are not rich people at all,” he said of him and his family. “We live paycheck to paycheck, like everybody else. And had it not been for the kindness of the people on GoFundMe, we would be bankrupt. Because of all the kindness, it’s not going to (happen) and that is the real story.” 

In a way, Hamilton is OK that this happened to him. 

“It lets people know that kindness still exists,” he said. “This was all worth it. It was my purpose, and I accept the purpose.” 

His hope is humanity has not diminished. Instead, it has grown.

Hamilton said he’s received multiple messages of support, prayers for a speedy recovery and even thank you letters for raising awareness to such ambushes.

Hamilton’s next step is to hire an attorney for financial compensation, but he also hopes to meet each person who has supported him financially, mentally and spiritually. 

His experience has affected him physically, emotionally and financially, but it has not affected his kindness for others. 

“Still try to be kind to each other,” he said. “Please try to be kind, but be cautious. Don’t not help — at a minimum, please call 911.”