Man injured by pumpkin-throwers 'glad to be alive'

Christine MacDonald / The Detroit News

Plymouth Township --A 50-year-old Pinckney man, injured on his way home from work Friday after someone threw pumpkins from an M-14 overpass, said he holds no ill will toward whoever hurtled the ghoulish gourds.

He's just happy to be alive.

"If I was younger, I would be a lot more upset," said Hank Kiel, a father of two. "But when you are 50, you just want to be home with your kids."

Kiel, who runs a janitorial business, was returning home about 3 a.m. from a job cleaning a Plymouth credit union down M-14 when something came through his windshield just after passing Ridge Road.

Kiel said he was in shock and didn't realize it was a pumpkin until he pulled over to the side of the road. It came through the driver's side windshield and hit him in the head, breaking his glasses. He said he struggled to call 911 for several minutes because he was bleeding so badly.

He later learned from police three pumpkins were thrown at his car, one of which lodged in his back bumper and the other hitting the passenger side.

No suspects have been arrested as Michigan State Police investigate the case. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Michigan State Police Metro South Post at (734) 287-5000.

Kiel was later taken to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ypsilanti where, along with a broken cheekbone, he had to get 18 stitches. Still, he isn't angry.

"I am just glad to be alive," he said.

Detroit News Staff Writer Valerie Olander contributed.