Police search for suspect in brutal hate-driven attack in Brooklyn

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Monday, September 24, 2018
Police search for suspect in brutal hate-driven attack in Brooklyn
Michelle Charlesworth has the latest on the brutal hate crime in Brooklyn

WILLIAMSBURG, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Police are looking for the man responsible for a brutal hate-driven attack in Brooklyn.

It happened just before 1 a.m. Sunday on Metropolitan Avenue as the victims were leaving a gay bar in Williamsburg.

Investigators say the man approached two male victims who were intoxicated, made anti-gay comments and then attacked.

The suspect punched the 34-year-old victim in the face and threw the 29-year-old victim against a tree. Both victims, from Hawthorne, New Jersey, were knocked unconscious.

The suspect then ran off in an unknown direction.

One victim sustained a fractured shoulder, while the other suffered a broken finger.

A bystander took a picture of the man police think is responsible for the attack.

"We need for people to take action," neighbor Aidan Pongrice said. "Not just to find and arrest this one person, we need people to take action to go out and vote and make sure that we don't have people and leaders in this country that actively dog whistle against my very existence."

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

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