NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — After police released photos Saturday of suspects wanted in relation to a violent anti-LGBTQ+ attack that occurred in Queens last month, a 13-year-old boy has been charged with eight counts of hate crime assault and other related charges, the NYPD said.
In addition to hate crime assault, the boy was charged with two counts of aggravated harassment, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, assault and hate crime menacing, police said.
He was arrested at about 11:30 a.m. on Friday in the 114th Precinct, the same precinct in which the attack occurred.
At about 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 8, two male victims were pelted with “hard objects” by four male strangers while walking on Broadway near 33rd Street in Astoria.
One of the victims, 36, was punched repeatedly in the face and suffered bruising and swelling, authorities said.
Police said that all four suspects appeared to be males in their mid-teens, and released media depicting two of the suspects on Saturday.
As of Friday, only one person has been charged in the hate crime assault.
The NYPD has a policy that it does not release the identities of arrested minors.
Anyone with information regarding the attack is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.