A stranger screaming homophobic slurs attacked a man walking his dogs on a Williamsburg street early on Thursday morning, breaking his face, according to the victim.
David Jimenez, who lives around the block from the attack, said he had just escorted some friends to catch a cab and was walking his dogs when he passed a group of men hanging out on the stoop of a building on S. Third Street between Bedford Avenue and Berry Street.
“Someone started screaming, ‘Hey you, f—–,” said Jimenez. “I turned around and gave him a look like, ‘What the hell?’ and the next thing I know the guy starts punching me in the face.”
Jimenez said he tried to defend himself, but could not because he was struggling to hold on to his dogs’ leashes.
The assailant broke Jimenez’s nose in four places and broke his eye socket, Jimenez said.
A good Samaritan called 911 and, when police arrived, pointed out the suspect who Jimenez said had not bothered to leave.
Police say they arrested a 35-year-old man for the attack and charged him with assault, criminal possession of a controlled substance, and resisting arrest.
Jimenez, 40, said he hopes Kings County prosecutors will file hate crime charges against his attacker.
“I hope the police will take this case seriously,” he said, adding that he needs witnesses to step forward and testify about the assault.
The number of incidents being investigated by police as anti-gay hate crimes reportedly spiked the rise this year. This summer, cops investigated two apparently anti-gay attacks in Williamsburg as possible hate crimes. In Manhattan, a man was shot dead by someone who police say shouted homophobic slurs in the moments prior.
