Beating Of Disabled Man In Chelsea Probed As Possible Hate Crime
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The NYPD is looking for a man who allegedly beat a disabled man while shouting a homophobic slur Monday afternoon in Chelsea.
As WCBS 880's Alex Silverman reported, the 44-year-old victim was waiting for a bus outside a Starbucks at 27th Street and Sixth Avenue -- just a block from the route of Sunday's NYC Pride March.
The disabled man had a sticker on his walker to show support for the LGBTQ community, when police say around 4 p.m. Monday another man suddenly rolled up on a mountain bike, shouted an anti-gay slur, then started punching the man repeatedly with a closed fist.
The attacker rode away, while the victim was rushed to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue. Police say he's expected to be okay.
The NYPD tells WCBS 880 they're investigating the beating as a hate crime and are looking for surveillance video from nearby.
No arrests have been made.
Anyone with information in regards 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 (74682). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
