Victims of hate crime decide, twice, not to press charges

Two men declined to press charges for battery against their neighbors after being physically and verbally harassed early Saturday morning.\nThe victims, who are roommates, live in the 1100 block of North Lindbergh Ave. The men, 20 and 23, called the police after neighbors began banging on their walls, windows and doors late at night. One of the victim's cars was also broken into.\nThe men told police they were being targeted because they are homosexual, and said it is not uncommon to have items thrown at their apartment. They also told police they had informed the apartment complex management repeatedly about the problem.\nAfter being harassed Saturday morning, one of the victims told police he left his apartment and chased an individual who he suspected was beating on their apartment windows. \nIn front of a nearby apartment he confronted a female who told the victim she and her boyfriend had banged on his windows because the he and his roommate were "fags," the police report said. \nThe victim told the woman that they needed to "move out because they were not wanted."\nAfter becoming involved in a verbal argument with the woman, he then accused her and her boyfriend of breaking into his vehicle. At this point, the victim said that the boyfriend, who had been watching the argument, struck him in the face. \nOfficers at the scene observed an injury near the victim's left eye, consisting of a small bruise near the cheekbone and a red mark near the eye on the forehead.\nThe first victim returned to the apartment and told his roommate about the argument, and both returned to the same area, this time armed with potato guns, the police interview with the other party said. A potato gun, or a spud gun, as it is sometimes called, is a PVC pipe that has been altered to shoot potatoes.\nThe men began arguing again with the woman and her boyfriend, as well as a third male. The victims accused the couple and the third man of banging on their door and windows, and of breaking into one of their cars. The police report said they threatened to shoot out the windows of the suspects' apartment. In turn, the woman called them both "faggots" and told them they should leave. \nAs the victims began walking away, the third male picked up a wooden grate stake and threw it, striking the second victim in the face, causing a laceration to his bottom lip and bruising his face.\nThe police were called to the scene after the second altercation, but both men requested that a criminal investigation not be completed and that the police not contact the suspects in the case. The victims told police they only wanted that incident to be documented.\nThe police were called back later Saturday morning after the victims had awakened to discover the word "fag" written on the outside of their apartment on the sidewalk. The police asked the victims if they wanted to press charges again, but they declined again. Photographs of their injuries and the written hate crime were taken as evidence.\nThe alleged suspects were found by police and admitted to banging on the windows and walls of the victims' apartments. One man told police that he had been intoxicated and that he shouldn't have done it. The suspects denied that any sort of physical altercation had occurred between themselves and the victims, or any knowledge regarding the word "fag" written on the sidewalk. Police warned all of the suspects that they could be arrested for criminal trespass.\nAnyone with information on this or other crimes should contact Bloomington Police Department at 339-4477.