Cops tackle hate crime in Lakeview

Residents of Lakeview were on edge last week after Nassau County police announced that three men had assaulted two other men walking on Woodfield Road on Nov. 1, possibly because one victim was a cross-dresser.

At a press conference at police headquarters in Mineola on Nov. 5, county detectives said they are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

Lakeview resident Robert Bellamy, 23, of Woodfield Road, was arrested on Nov. 4 in connection with the incident, and police are still looking for the other two male suspects.

The attack took place in the early morning hours after Halloween, and county Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey said that could have been the reason why one of the victims was dressed in women’s clothes.

According to police, the two victims were approached by a green Nissan with a female driver and three male passengers while they were walking on Woodfield Road at around 1:50 a.m., and the three males got out of the car and surrounded them.

Then, police said, Bellamy punched one of the victims in the face while the two other suspects punched the second victim in his head and face, which caused him to fall to the ground. The two assailants who are still at large then went through the second victim’s pockets and stole $7 while kicking him in the stomach, according to police, before the suspects fled the scene on foot.

Police learned that the suspects had approached the victim who was dressed in women’s clothes earlier, in a convenience store at a Sunoco gas station in Lakeview, and shouted an anti-gay slur at him. “They also began to harass him ... verbally and physically by pushing him,” Mulvey said. “They perceived him to be a homosexual.”

Police arrested Bellamy after tracking down the green Nissan owner’s address. He was charged with second-degree robbery and two counts of third-degree assault, and was arraigned at First District Court in Hempstead on Nov. 5.

Mulvey said police were also able to identify the female driver, who told detectives that she drove away from the scene when she became aware of what was happening. Police are now considering her as a potential witness in the case.

The victims were transported to Mercy Hospital in Rockville Centre, where they were treated for their injuries.

County Executive Tom Suozzi said at the press conference that the county will prosecute hate crime offenders to the fullest extent of the law.

“If you commit a hate crime in Nassau County, we’re going to do everything we can to arrest you, put you in jail and make your life miserable,” Suozzi said, adding that the county has stepped up initiatives to educate young people about hate crimes and their consequences. “This will not be tolerated. It’s unacceptable, and that’s the bottom line.”

Police are still searching for two of the attackers, and are asking anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 244-TIPS. All calls will remain anonymous.

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