Four arrested in attack on gay man
BY ROCCO PARASCANDOLA and THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Newsday Staff Writer
October 11, 2006
Four young men were arrested for luring a gay man to a remote location with an online promise of a sexual encounter, then attempting to rob him -- an incident that left the victim in critical condition after he ran into traffic to escape the attack, a police commander said Wednesday.
The four, who range in age from 16 to 20, were arrested late Tuesday, according to a police commander who spoke on condition of anonymity because the charges were still pending. Police had said they were investigating the Sunday attack as a possible bias incident, but it remained unclear whether the four would be charged with a bias crime.
Police sources said it appears the men had arranged, through e-mail, to meet the victim in a popular gay hangout, under the guise of having sex with him, but actually planned to rob him. They had told him to bring money in case they went to a hotel room, the sources said.
The victim, Michael Sandy, 28, a designer for Ikea from East Williamsburg, is still in critical condition and on a respirator at Brookdale Hospital.
The four attackers, who said they were heterosexual, made incriminating statements and indicated they had previously used the Internet to lure and attack gay men, the commander said....
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