FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Defendant Who Allegedly Attacked Three Men Near Gay Nightclub
Indicted For Assault as a Hate Crime and Other Charges
Faces Up To 25 Years in Prison on Top Count
Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced today that a 32-year-old man has been indicted on charges of first-degree assault as a hate crime and other related offenses for allegedly slashing one male, menacing another male with a weapon, and stabbing a third male while shouting homophobic slurs near a gay nightclub in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “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. 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.”
The Acting District Attorney identified the defendant as James Thomas, a.k.a., Mousey Baby, 32, of Prospect Heights. He was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on an indictment in which he is charged with first-degree assault as a hate crime and other related offenses. He was ordered held on $150,000 bail and to return to court on May 10, 2017.
The Acting District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on March 5, 2017, at approximately 4:30 a.m., inside a Crown Fried Chicken restaurant located at 1147 Fulton Street, the defendant, who is a local rapper, shouted homophobic slurs at various patrons inside of the restaurant, many of whom had just exited the nearby Langston Club, which is a predominantly gay night club. The defendant slashed the first victim in the face with a knife and then left the restaurant.
The defendant then confronted two other males who had also left Langston Club and were attempting to walk into the same restaurant. The defendant allegedly pushed the second victim to the ground and menaced him with a knife, and stabbed the third victim twice in the torso and once in the shoulder when he tried to come to his friend’s aid. Police responded to the scene, but the defendant had already fled the area.
The first stabbing victim was taken to the hospital and received 18 stitches on the left side of his face. The second stabbing victim received three stitches to the torso and was hospitalized overnight.
The defendant turned himself into the police at the 79th precinct stationhouse on March 9, 2017, after video surveillance footage from the scene was released to the media.
The case was investigated by New York City Police Department Detective Andrew Smart of the Hate Crimes Task Force.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney T. Peter Choi, of the District Attorney’s Civil Rights Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kelli M. Muse, Deputy Bureau Chief, under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney William E. Schaeffer, Chief of the District Attorney’s Investigations Division and Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill, Deputy Chief.
#
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt