Suspect charged in possible bias attack inside Chelsea restaurant
CHELSEA (WABC) -- A suspect in an attack on two men inside a Manhattan restaurant has turned himself in.
Bayna-Lehkiem El-Amin, 41, of the South Bronx, turned himself in to detectives at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. He is charged with felony assault and attempted felony assault.
He is not being charged right now with a bias crime.
Police say that they received six CrimeStoppers tips after releasing the video of the suspect, leading to the identification of the suspect.
Police are also trying to determine whether there were anti-gay comments during the incident, which was caught on camera and may be disturbing to some.
Shortly after 11 p.m. May 12, at the Dallas BBQ restaurant on Eighth Avenue in Chelsea, a man, 32, said he was punched and kicked by the suspect. He suffered bruising to the face, while another man was hit with a chair, suffering injuries to the left side of his face.
Both victims, who are acquaintances, refused medical attention.
The lawyers for Beyna-Lekhiem el Amin insist their client is actually the victim.
"The video that the media has only shows the end of what happened," said Raul Zaltsberg, defense attorney.
But that end is frighteningly violent. Separated by enough space that el Amin is out of the frame of the camera, he suddenly enters, lifts a chair and hits two men with whom he had been scuffling, over the head.
Neither was seriously injured. In court Tuesday, you saw just how big a man el Amin is, but his lawyer insists he was afraid of the two much smaller men who he says started the whole incident.
"At the point he picks up the chair, he's several feet away from the victims," Eyewitness News said.
"First of all, he's not that far away from the victims," Zaltsberg said. "At that point, it was the third or fourth time that this person had gotten up and came after Mr. el Amin."
EL Amin had friends in court Tuesday to show support.
"He's a very wholesome, loving, giving person. I know that something, whatever happened, was something that he had no control over at that moment," a friend said.
The incident happened in early May; el Amin turned himself in to police earlier Tuesday.
"He's been nothing but cooperative with me, and we've been cooperating with the detectives and the District Attorney's office," Zaltsberg said.
"But for a month and a half didn't turn himself in?" Eyewitness News said.
"I have no comment on that thus far," Zaltsberg said.
El Amin is no choir boy; he has several previous arrests, at least 18 in southern and north eastern states. He's being held on $75,000 bond.
Police released surveillance video of the suspect entering the restaurant.
A witness recorded the scene.
In a written statement, New York City Councilman Corey Johnson said, "I am appalled and angered by the senseless act of anti-LGBT hate violence that was perpetrated last night at a restaurant in my district. The fact that this attack took place in the neighborhood of Chelsea, a place known around the world for its acceptance of all people, is particularly outrageous. There must be zero tolerance of hate crimes, the most insidious of crimes as they target entire communities of people."
