Three young men were arrested July 5 for an attack on a gay man in the West Side Humboldt Park neighborhood.
At least three other gay men were also allegedly verbally and physically attacked but they did not report the incidents to police.
While the arrests took place around 11:30 p.m., the harassment of gay men in the park reportedly began in the late afternoon as gay men were being called "faggot" and other epithets.
The incidents took place near the corner of Sacramento ( 3000 West ) and Division ( 1200 North ) .
The three offenders arrested and charged with attempted armed robbery and hate crime were a male Hispanic age 13, male Black age 13, and male white age 14. They have been charged as juveniles.
The armed robbery stems from their use of a knife, hands and feet to attack the man and rob him, while they also were yelling racial and "sexual preference" epithets, according to the Police Department's News Affairs office.
"The offenders beat and stabbed him superficially, and then attempted to rob him," the police report said.
The three youth might have gotten away with their alleged verbal and physical assaults had it not been for the alert actions of Luis Scaccabarrozzi, MOCHA coordinator for the Chicago Department of Public Health. Scaccabarrozzi lives in the neighborhood and was driving by after one stabbing had occurred, while police were taking down the report.
Scaccabarrozzi drove about 50 feet, and his own car was attacked with stones and he was called names. Unintimidated, Scaccabarrozzi returned to where the police were, and told them where the youth were. Police pursued and then caught the suspects.
Scaccabarrozzi knew some of the men who had been victimized that afternoon and evening, but the one who the worst injured did not report his claim to police. Several of the men did not speak English, and they may have feared police in reporting the attacks.
"People had been in the park, some say as early as 4 p.m. these individuals may have been harassing gay men," Scaccabarrozzi said. "It was not until later at night that it became more physical ... they were physically assaulting people. These kids, from what I hear, were looking for trouble."
Scaccabarrozzi said two of the men had planned to meet in the section of Humboldt Park where two bull statues are facing Sacramento. "Then these three guys approached them, saying 'you fucking faggots. If you're faggots we're going to kick your asses.' I don't remember the exchange after that, but apparently a lot of gay men noticed, some approached, some left the park.
"For [ one of the men ] stabbed, it was harder for him, he was a loner, further away, older, recuperating from a stroke, so it was harder for him to move fast. He was stabbed. He is not the one who reported it," Scaccabarrozzi said. Instead, a second man who was stabbed was the one who ended up filing a report with the police.
Scaccabarrozzi said he is concerned that because all three offenders were young that they will soon be on the streets again. He returned to the park the next day, and the attacks were on the minds of many of the park's visitors. Scaccabarrozzi gathered more details, and found out that many men had been harassed July 5.
Scaccabarrozzi also said Lt. Figueroa, the arresting officer, did not hesitate when Scaccabarrozzi said this should be filed as a hate crime. Because Figueroa spoke Spanish, Scaccabarrozzi said it also helped in gathering information for the arrest.