CHICAGO (STMW) — Charges against three men who allegedly beat up an openly gay Rogers Park man have been upgraded to felony hate crimes.
On Jan. 10, 2010, Sean Little, Benjamin Eder and Kevin McAndrew were riding the CTA Red Line train when Little allegedly began verbally harassing and shoving a gay youth.
Daniel Hauff, of Rogers Park, came to the youth’s aid, at which point Little allegedly began directing anti-gay slurs at Hauff and pushed him. Eder and McAndrew, who had been watching before, allegedly joined in the assault, calling Hauff a “stupid fa***t,” and all three men began punching and bloodying Hauff’s face in front of train passengers, according to a release from Hauff’s attorney.
Another man tried to help Hauff and numerous other passengers pushed the train’s emergency button, the release said. A witness confirmed Little had been harassing and shoving a young man for being homosexual.
The misdemeanor battery charges the three men faced were dropped Tuesday by the State’s Attorney’s office, the release said. As the three men left the courtroom, they were immediately re-arrested and charged with felony hate crimes as a result of a review of the case by the State’s Attorney and the Chicago Police Department, the release said.
The State’s Attorney’s office confirmed that the charges were upgraded.
Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services