A New York City man was arrested for allegedly assaulting and harassing a gay couple in Flatiron back in March.
Philip Wales, 30, was charged with one count of Assault in the Third Degree as a Hate Crime and one count of Aggravated Harassment in the Second Degree.
According to court documents, at 10:40 p.m. on March 7, Wales allegedly approached a 41-year-old man and his husband while they were walking along 6th Avenue. As the couple walked past Wales, he allegedly shouted obscenities at them. Wales then allegedly turned back toward the couple, ran up behind the 41-year-old and struck him in the head with a closed hand.
The victim grabbed a large traffic cone to protect himself as Wales allegedly continued to shout at the couple. Wales then allegedly struck the victim in the face, and the victim’s husband stepped in to attempt to fend off Wales.
The victim called 911 and flagged down the police car as his husband held Wales at the spot before he could flee, and he was then taken into custody. The victim sustained a bump on his head, a cut to his lip and bruising to his wrist as a result of the alleged incident.
“We allege this defendant deliberately targeted the victim because of his sexual orientation,” said District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “This type of bias-motivated attack should never happen to anyone, and our Office is continuing to seek accountability in hate crime matters while also conducing community engagement and trainings to stop these attacks before they occur.”
