By Thomas Tracy
Investigators from the 67th Precinct trekked to New Jersey in order to arrest the prime suspect in a brutal anti-gay attack that left the victim in a coma, police said. As of this writing, Steve Pomie, 22, of 270 East 95th Street, was expected to be extradited from Seaside Heights, New Jersey, to Brooklyn, where he will face assault and hate crime charges, officials from the Kings County District Attorney’s office said. Pomie and two other men are accused of jumping and beating a 26-year-old gay man outside the victim’s home on East 94th Street near the corner of Kings Highway at 11:50 p.m. on June 9. According to witnesses, the victim was throwing out his garbage when Pomie and his accomplices – who police believe that he knew – rolled toward him in a dark-colored sedan, exited and started hurling anti-gay epithets at him without any provocation. They then lunged at the victim, knocking him to the ground and repeatedly punching and kicking him, said officials. As stunned witnesses called 911, the trio jumped back into the sedan and fled. The victim was taken to Kings County Hospital where he lapsed into a coma. Doctors have listed him in critical yet stable condition with severe blunt trauma injuries to the head. Cops publicly identified Pomie as an attacker sought in the assault a few days later. Working off a tip, detectives and members of the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force tracked Pomie to Seaside Heights, where he and another man were arrested on June 16. Sources said that the second man was not connected to the bias attack. Pomie, who reportedly runs an East Flatbush drug crew and may have connections to the Bloods, fled to New Jersey after learning that police were circulating his picture. Pomie has been charged with attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the second degree, as a hate crime, assault in the third degree as a hate crime, menacing in the third degree, menacing in the third degree as a hate crime and harassment in the second degree. Officials from the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force are searching for remaining two assailants. “This kind of crime cannot be tolerated,” said Kings County District Attorney Charles Hynes. “That’s why the NYPD and my office moved quickly to assure that this suspect was brought to justice.” Members of the borough’s Lesbian Gay Bi-sexual and Transgender (LGBT) community hailed the arrest. “We have no doubt that the high visibility of the case and the willingness of the community to engage and work to help on this case was a factor in Pomie’s arrest,” said Clarence Patton, the Anti-Violence Project’s Acting Executive Director. Members of the Anti-Violence Project joined the search for Pomie by circulating his picture throughout the neighborhood and encouraging more witnesses to come forward. “As we said immediately after the attack was made public, this was a case the community could indeed help solve,” Patton continued. “Now we can only hope that Pomie will finally do the right thing and name his accomplices in this heinous and hateful attack.” “Though what happened to Pomie was more vicious than most anti-gay attacks in New York, it is not uncommon enough,” Patton explained. “Every twelve hours we get a report of some anti-LGTB incident in the City, and every 36 hours, we receive a report of an anti-LGTB assault.” “As the weather warms and more people are on the streets in general, reports of anti-LGTB activity almost always rise,” he said. The arrest came just days before the NYPD announced that hate crimes against homosexuals had increased 32 percent this year when compared to incidents in 2004, Police said that, as of June 17 there have been nineteen bias attacks against homosexuals – six more than the thirteen incidents that took place over the same period last year.
