HELL'S KITCHEN — Police released photos Friday of three men they say are responsible for breaking a gay-bar patron's leg and injuring his friend.
The 25-year-old patron and his male friend, also 25, were hospitalized around 4 a.m. July 17, after an argument with three men that escalated into an assault near 50th Street and Ninth Avenue, police said.
After following the two victims down the street, the three suspects began to punch, kick and stomp on the two men before fleeing the scene, police said.
The two victims then hailed a cab to Bellevue Hospital, where one was treated for a broken leg and the other was treated for cuts and bruises, according to police.
Police on Friday released surveillance photos of the three suspects, who were described as being in in their 20s. One of the men was seen wearing glasses, a white T-shirt and jeans with a chinstrap beard, while another wore a white T-shirt with black pants and sneakers. A third man was seen shirtless with a goatee, a white T-shirt slung over his shoulder, wearing tan cargo shorts and black sneakers.
The man with the broken leg, who is from Brooklyn, told police last week that he had just left Vodka Soda at 315 W. 46th St. when the men started following him and his friend, shouting homophobic slurs in Spanish.
An NYPD spokesman could not confirm whether police were investigating the attack as a possible hate crime.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
