SOHO — The NYPD is looking for a man they say attacked a gay couple at a bodega on Prince Street, sources said.
Larry Lennox-Choate III and Daniel Lennox-Choate, who were the first gay couple to be married at West Point in 2013, were in a bodega at 186 Prince St. when a curly-haired man in his 40s came in to buy beer, sources said.
The man, who was wearing a white T-shirt and blue shorts, "screamed anti-gay obscenities at us in a bodega before sucker-punching Danny," Larry Lennox-Choate wrote on Facebook.
Then Larry — who, like Daniel, is a graduate of the West Point military academy and an Army veteran — stepped in.
"[The attacker] left covered in his own blood with his tail between his legs after I handled the situation and tossed him in the street like the coward loser he is," Larry wrote.
Police said the suspect, who was about 5-foot-8 and 130 pounds, fled on a grey bicycle.
Daniel, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was left with a fat lip and Larry with "a sore punching arm," according to the Facebook post.
"It's hard to believe that in 2015 we would have to deal with anti-gay hate crimes in SoHo of all places," Larry wrote on Facebook.
"We refuse to be victims and are thankful we can defend ourselves, but are saddened by the fact that idiots like this guy might not pick two guys who went through Plebe Boxing next time," he added, referencing a required freshman boxing course at West Point.
The Lennox-Choates were the first gay couple to be married at West Point. Their 2013 ceremony was widely reported at the time.
They also let a photographer document their relationship and impending marriage, despite some misgivings.
“Even though it’s legal, you still feel the pressure that you have to live in the shadows,” Larry told the New York Times in 2013.
“So we thought, ‘Maybe if [the photographer] Jill does this, then more people see it and more people feel empowered to just sort of be who they are. Because they’re not breaking any rules.’”
The NYPD is asking anyone with information about the suspect or the attack to call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 800-577-TIPS.
