I heard this story this week on our local news.  I realize that it’s barely half-way through February now, but I’m going to go ahead and cast my vote for “Father Of The Year” right now.

A local man out cross-country skiing was severely beaten and left for dead by my FoTY nominee and his minor son who then took off with the man’s SUV.

Who says you can’t spend quality time with your kids in today’s fast-paced world?

The man, a 33-year-old Michael Collins and his 16-year-old son Tevin (if you do the math, he had to have sired the child when he was around 17) are now on the run.   The story of the robbery would read like a bad crime comedy if it wasn’t so chilling.

The Collins team approached the victim and told him, “… we need your car.”  The guy handed them the keys and then told them to be on their way.  Not content with just showing his son how to car-jack, the elder Collins then told the victim that they, “could not afford to leave a witness and needed to kill him.”  Now that’s dedication to your profession, willing to kill a man over a minor felony.   Who says fathers aren’t instilling a good work ethic anymore?

The victim, not having quite the same dedication as his attackers, decided to flee:

“I tried to put some distance and maybe made it fifty yards or so away and he said ‘no we really do have to kill you,’” recalled Tracey. 

The father-son tag team caught up to him and beat him nearly to death, leaving him for dead and making off with his SUV.  The man woke up a couple hours later and was eventually rescued by a few hikers that came across him.  A close call, indeed.

The Collins team is still on the loose as I write this.  The elder Collins was already wanted on a warrant for failing to register as a sex offender so it looks like he’s making sure his son has a well-rounded education.  It really is a shame that the kids have to suffer because the parents are idiots.