A Staten Island man has been sentenced to up to four years in prison for assaulting two people outside of a deli in Flatbush, one of whom was an acquaintance.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said, “Attacks victimizing the LGBTQ+ community have surged nationwide, and we have no tolerance for this abhorrent violence in Brooklyn. Today’s sentence holds the defendant accountable for this senseless and unprovoked attack and sends a strong message that those who commit hate crimes will face serious consequences.”
Gonzalez identified the defendant as Aaron Richard, 33, of Staten Island, New York.
He was sentenced yesterday to two to four years in prison by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice John Hecht. The defendant pleaded guilty to third-degree assault as a hate crime on March 15, 2023.
On July 8, 2022, at approximately 5:45 p.m., in the vicinity of 533 Ocean Ave. in Brooklyn, the defendant approached a 22-year-old man with whom he was acquainted as he stood in front of a deli with another person and shouted anti-gay slurs.
The defendant then struck the man in the face with a metal object, causing a laceration. When the second person tried to intervene, that person was struck in the hand with the metal object and suffered a cut.
The defendant was located and arrested on August 30, 2022.
