Kid Rock's Assistant Died in 2016 and Newly Released 9-1-1 Audio Leads to Outrage

Fans of Kid Rock, aka Robert Ritchie, are looking back at an incident from 2016 following newly released audio related to that incident. The event revolves around the death of Michael Sacha, who was the musician's assistant at the time.

While there are still some things about Michael's death that remain unclear, there are a few things we definitely do know. Here's everything we understand about exactly what happened to Kid Rock's personal assistant.

Kid Rock's personal assistant Michael Sacha died in an ATV accident. His body was found by Kid Rock himself face down "on the embankment of the property's long driveway" on April 22, 2016, at around 11 a.m., according to police reports.

"He was a member of our family and one of the greatest young men I have ever had the pleasure to not only work with, but also to become friends with," Kid Rock said in a statement on his website.

"I know I speak for us all in sharing my deepest condolences to his family. I cannot imagine how they must feel," the statement continued.

Police believe that Michael was killed after he drove two guests who had attended a cookout at Kid Rock's house to a waiting Uber driver on the evening of April 21. His body was discovered the next morning, and it doesn't seem like any foul play is suspected.

"While riding the ATV back toward the residence, Sacha apparently lost control and crashed," police explained. "Ritchie began looking for Sacha later this (Monday) morning when he couldn't find him at the residence."

Police said that they hadn't determined what caused Michael to crash. He was originally from Detroit and was expected to be buried back home in Michigan.

Although Kid Rock is himself a pretty controversial figure because of the political views he has espoused, many across the political spectrum were appalled by what appeared to be the audio of the 9-1-1 call that he made after he found Michael's body. The audio only became public in 2024.

It wasn't Kid Rock they were appalled at, though, it was the 9-1-1 operator who seemed more concerned about the musician's tone than about whether his assistant was still alive.

"Yeah listen, I'm not one to defend Kid Rock... but this 9-1-1 operator is a f--king idiot," one person wrote on Twitter. "He told you, he doesn't know — assistant was in a Polaris accident and looks dead. He needs an ambulance. Wtf else you want him to tell you before sending the ambulance? I'd be yelling at her too."

Ultimately, it seems like the ambulance may have been too late regardless of when it was sent. This appears to have been a tragic accident, and one that was later explained by reporting that Michael had been drunk at the time of the incident, which may have explained how he lost control of the ATV.