Charges dropped against 3 in NYC anti-gay attacks
The Edge reports: Prosecutors dropped charges against three people accused of taking part in anti-gay attacks on two men and two teens, citing a lack of evidence.
Bryan Almonte and Brian Cepeda, both 17, and Steven Carabello (pictured), 16, had been charged with robbery, gang assault and unlawful imprisonment as hate crimes in the Oct. 3 attacks.
Eight other people remain accused in the case, which city officials called the worst anti-gay attacks in recent history. It’s possible more people will be arrested because investigators are still working.
Family members and friends cheered outside court after the charges were dismissed, and the three boys’ attorneys said they were pleased with the outcome. Almonte’s attorney John O’Connell said his client thought he was at a party in the abandoned home where prosecutors say three of the victims were assaulted.
Authorities said a loosely organized street crew known as the Latin King Goonies found out one of their recruits was gay - and when they found out, they snapped, setting off a weekend rampage. The recruit, a 17-year-old boy, was beaten and sodomized at the abandoned apartment, which they used as a hangout. The gang members then went after a 30-year-old man known throughout the Bronx neighborhood as The Queen, who they believed had had a sexual encounter with the teen, prosecutors said.
The man was burned, beaten, tortured and sodomized with a miniature baseball bat, police said.
Almonte had been accused of taking part in that assault.
The 30-year-old was attacked at the apartment hours after the initial assault. While he was attacked, gang members took his house keys, went to his home and robbed him of a TV and cash after beating his roommate and 40-year-old brother, authorities said.
The men also attacked a second teen they suspected was gay, prosecutors said.
Cepeda and Carabello were accused in that attack, along with Almonte.
The remaining suspects face charges including sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment and assault as hate crimes. Their attorneys and families insist they are innocent and are not members of a gang. They say that the suspects have not been allowed to tell their sides of the story and that the 30-year-old man was paying boys for sex.
Bryan Almonte and Brian Cepeda, both 17, and Steven Carabello (pictured), 16, had been charged with robbery, gang assault and unlawful imprisonment as hate crimes in the Oct. 3 attacks.Eight other people remain accused in the case, which city officials called the worst anti-gay attacks in recent history. It’s possible more people will be arrested because investigators are still working.
Family members and friends cheered outside court after the charges were dismissed, and the three boys’ attorneys said they were pleased with the outcome. Almonte’s attorney John O’Connell said his client thought he was at a party in the abandoned home where prosecutors say three of the victims were assaulted.
Authorities said a loosely organized street crew known as the Latin King Goonies found out one of their recruits was gay - and when they found out, they snapped, setting off a weekend rampage. The recruit, a 17-year-old boy, was beaten and sodomized at the abandoned apartment, which they used as a hangout. The gang members then went after a 30-year-old man known throughout the Bronx neighborhood as The Queen, who they believed had had a sexual encounter with the teen, prosecutors said.
The man was burned, beaten, tortured and sodomized with a miniature baseball bat, police said.
Almonte had been accused of taking part in that assault.
The 30-year-old was attacked at the apartment hours after the initial assault. While he was attacked, gang members took his house keys, went to his home and robbed him of a TV and cash after beating his roommate and 40-year-old brother, authorities said.
The men also attacked a second teen they suspected was gay, prosecutors said.
Cepeda and Carabello were accused in that attack, along with Almonte.
The remaining suspects face charges including sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment and assault as hate crimes. Their attorneys and families insist they are innocent and are not members of a gang. They say that the suspects have not been allowed to tell their sides of the story and that the 30-year-old man was paying boys for sex.
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