Man Sentenced To Year In Jail For Homophobic Attack In Fort Greene

Brooklyn Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street (Photo by Pamela Wong/BKLYNER)

FORT GREENE – Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced today that a Queens man was sentenced to one year in jail after pleading guilty to striking a man with a stick while shouting a homophobic slur earlier this year.

At approximately 9:15pm on February 28, 2017, the victim and his husband were walking near Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street in Fort Greene when 61-year-old Loudal Baez of Maspeth, Queens walked up to them, yelled a homophobic slur, and struck the victim on the hip with a stick, according to the investigation. The victim suffered bruising from the incident.

Baez pleaded guilty to third-degree assault earlier this month.

“This defendant assaulted an innocent man who was simply walking down the street with his husband, for no other reason than the victim’s sexual orientation,” Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said in a statement. “Today’s jail sentence holds him accountable for his hateful actions.”