MIDTOWN — A man who told police he’d been kicked in the groin during an anti-gay attack near Penn Station has been arrested after surveillance video revealed he was actually the attacker during the incident, prosecutors said.
Police recently dropped charges against Grant Leach, 26, who was arrested after 50-year-old Curtis Campbell claimed Leach kicked him and called him a f----t near West 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue last month.
On Thursday, Campbell was arrested after surveillance footage from the scene showed he’d lied about the incident, a complaint filed with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office said.
Campbell told an Amtrak police officer that Leach kicked him in the groin and tried to punch him around 7:40 a.m. on March 12, according to the complaint.
He told the Daily News that he was gay, and claimed Leach threatened to kill him after hurling an anti-gay slur.
Surveillance video, however, shows Campbell punch and kick Leach before swinging a “long metal object” and lunging at him with it, the DA’s office said.
Campbell has been charged with attempted assault, offering a false instrument for filing and making a punishable false written statement, the complaint said.
He’s currently being held on $2,000 bail and is expected to appear in court on April 18, according to city Department of Correction records and the DA’s office.
His attorney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
