Police are searching for a suspect who punched two men in an apparent anti-gay attack on a subway train in Long Island City last month (Photo: NYPD)
Aug. 10, 2021 By Michael Dorgan
Police are looking for a suspect who punched two men in an apparent anti-gay attack on a subway train in Long Island City last month and then slugged a woman who tried to stop the beat down.
The suspect approached two 19-year-old men on a Jamaica-bound E train at around 3:30 a.m. on July 31 and hurled anti-gay slurs at them – including “c**k-suckers” and “f***ots” – before punching one of the victims multiple times as the train approached the Court Square station, according to police.
The alleged homophobe then clobbered the second 19-year-old victim in the face when the train stopped at the Court Square station, police said.
A 32-year-old Good Samaritan then attempted to intervene but she was sucker-punched by the perpetrator as the train took off.
All of the victims then fled the train when it stopped at the Queens Plaza subway station – the next stop on the route – while the suspect remained on the train.
All three victims suffered pain and swelling to the face, with the woman also suffering a fractured tooth.
Police released video footage of the suspect taken from outside a bar in Manhattan before the incident. He can be seen wearing a black baseball cap containing different logos, gray jeans and a navy and blue top.
Police described the suspect as black and aged in his 30’s. He is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs around 160 pounds.
The investigation is being carried out by the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force.
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). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.
