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Read the press release here.

Assault on Couple in Long Island City Not a Hate Crime, Cops Say

By  Jeanmarie Evelly and Janon Fisher | August 23, 2013 12:35pm 

 Billie and Jacob James-Vogel were assaulted outside a Long Island City's restaurant, reports said.
Billie and Jacob James-Vogel were assaulted outside a Long Island City's restaurant, reports said.
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HUNTERS POINT — Cops have determined that an assault on an interracial couple that took place in Long Island City last weekend was not a hate crime.

Police would not provide further details, but confirmed that the incident was not deemed to be a bias crime.

The NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force had been investigating the incident, in which husband and wife Jacob and Billie James-Vogel said they were attacked by a group of men after leaving Shi restaurant on Center Boulevard early Saturday morning.

The couple was with their friend, Chris Boscia, who is gay, and who said the group of men yelled homophobic and then racial slurs at them during the altercation. Jacob and Billie James-Vogel were injured during the incident.

Police said they arrested Nikolaos Katsos, 28, and charged him with assault and harassment. Katsos is due back in court in October, according to the Queens District Attorney's Office.