BROOKLYN — A Brooklyn rapper slashed one man in the face, stabbed another and shoved a third to the ground, all while hurling homophobic slurs at the victims, who had just left a gay nightclub in Bed-Stuy, prosecutors said.
James Thomas, 32, who performs under the name Mousey Baby, was indicted on hate crime charges Wednesday in connection to the early-morning March 5 stabbing outside the Crown Fried Chicken at Fulton Street and Franklin Avenue, a block away from Langston Night Club on Atlantic Avenue, prosecutors said.
The incident began at about 4:30 a.m. as patrons of the club poured onto the street, many of them heading to the chicken joint, prosecutors said.
Thomas strolled into the eatery and started hurling anti-gay insults at the crowd before slashing one man in the face with a knife and fleeing, officials said.
Thomas then headed back down Franklin Avenue, where he encountered two other men leaving the club, prosecutors said. Thomas pushed one man to the ground and threatened him with a knife before turning to the other and stabbing him twice in the torso and once in the shoulder when the man tried to help his friend, authorities said.
The victim who was slashed inside the restaurant needed 18 stitches to patch up his face, and the second stabbing victim man needed three stitches and spent the night in the hospital, prosecutors said.
Thomas fled before police could arrive, but turned himself in at the 79th Precinct station house after authorities released surveillance footage connecting him to the incidents, officials said.
He’s being held at Rikers Island on $150,000 and is due back in court April 3, records show.
Thomas is being held on $150,000 bail and faces up to 25 years in prison on a slew of felony charges, including assault as a hate crime, said acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, who pledged to come down hard on anyone accused of targeting Brooklynites based on identity.
“In Brooklyn, everyone, regardless of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or religion must be able to safely walk the streets without fear of being senselessly attacked,” he said in a statement. “This defendant’s alleged actions were particularly egregious as he attacked three innocent people simply because he perceived them to be gay. We will now seek to hold him accountable.”
