A man who smacked a transgender woman in the head with a hammer on a Woodside street on Wednesday morning may have acted out of hate, law enforcement sources said.
The NYPD is investigating the Aug. 17 assault in front of an apartment house on 67th Street near 41st Avenue as a possible bias crime, it was reported on Friday.
According to authorities, the 28-year-old transgender woman was walking through the area at about 6 a.m. Wednesday morning when she was approached from behind by the hammer-wielding suspect, who was described as a black male between 30 and 35 years old.
Police said the attacker struck the woman in the back of her head with the hammer, then said, “This is what you get for being gay,” according to WABC-TV. The perpetrator then fled the scene in an unknown direction.
Officers from the 108th Precinct and EMS units responded to the scene. The victim was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital and treated for a laceration, bleeding and substantial pain to the back of her head.
The incident is being investigated by the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force.
“I am outraged that yet another member of the Queens transgender community was brutally attacked on our streets just a few days ago,” said longtime LGBT activist and Councilman Daniel Dromm. “Targeted violence against LGBT people strikes at the heart of the community and will not be tolerated. I await the results of the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force investigation which is currently underway and will continue to push back against hate in all its forms.”
Anyone with information about the attack is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS, visit their website or send a text message to 274637 (CRIMES), then enter TIP577. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
