Richmond police seek 4 in gang rape of lesbian
More Bay Area News The crime, which occurred on Dec. 13, is being investigated as a hate crime because of comments the suspects made about the victim's sexual orientation, police said. The woman is openly lesbian and had a rainbow sticker on her license plate, a symbol of gay pride.
"The emotional impact has changed her life," said Lt. Mark Gagan of the Richmond Police Department. "It is an absolute nightmare for her to have gone through. For 45 minutes, four strangers brutalized her."
The ordeal began around 9:30 p.m. in the 1500 block of Visalia Avenue in Richmond's Belding-Wood neighborhood, said Gagan.
The woman was sexually assaulted in that location after she got out of her car, police said. Then she was forced back into her vehicle after the suspects noticed someone approaching. She was driven seven blocks away to the 1300 block of Burbeck Avenue, where she was repeatedly sexually assaulted near an apartment complex, Gagan said.
After the attack, the men drove off in her car, police said. She sought help from a nearby resident who called police.
She was taken to a local hospital and treated for her injuries. Her car was recovered the next day in Richmond.
The attackers are being sought on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, kidnapping, carjacking and sexual assault. The charges carry a hate crime enhancement.
Police described the first suspect, believed to be the group leader, as a Latino man in his 30s, who stands 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighs 180 pounds, and has black hair, brown eyes and a mustache.
The second suspect is described as an African American man in his early 20s, about 5 feet 10 inches, 170 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He is known by the nickname "Blu," police said.
The third suspect is described as Latino, 18 to 20 years old, who is nicknamed "Pato." The fourth suspect is described only as a Latino man 18 to 20 years old.
"Everybody in our community has an interest in making sure these people are apprehended and brought to justice," said Gagan.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Ysenia Rogers at (510) 672-1718.
E-mail Elizabeth Fernandez at
efernandez@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page B - 7 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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A woman in the San Francisco Bay area was jumped by four men, taunted for being a lesbian, repeatedly raped and left naked outside an abandoned apartment building, authorities said Monday.Detectives say the 28-year-old victim was attacked Dec. 13 after she got out of her car, which bore a rainbow gay pride sticker. The men, who ranged from their late teens to their 30s, made comments indicating they knew her sexual orientation, said Richmond police Lt. Mark Gagan."It just pushes it beyond fathomable," he said. "The level of trauma -- physical and emotional -- this victim has suffered is extreme."Authorities are characterizing the attack as a hate crime but declined to reveal why they think the woman was singled out because of her sexual orientation. Gagan would say only that the victim lived openly with a female partner and had a rainbow flag sticker on her car.The 45-minute attack began when one of the men approached the woman as she crossed the street, struck her with a blunt object, ordered her to disrobe and sexually assaulted her with the help of the other men.When the group saw another person approaching, they forced the victim back into her car and took her to a burned-out apartment building, where she was raped again inside and outside the vehicle. The assailants took her wallet and drove off in her car. Officers found the car abandoned two days later.The woman sought help from a nearby resident, and she was examined at a hospital. Although the victim said she did not know her attackers, detectives hope someone in the community knows them. One of the men went by the nickname "Blue" and another was called "Pato," according to authorities.Richmond police are offering a $10,000 award for information leading to the arrest of the attackers.Gay rights advocates note that hate crimes based on sexual orientation have increased nationwide as of late. There were 1,415 such crimes in 2006 and 1,460 in 2007, both times making up about 16 percent of the total, according to the FBI.Avy Skolnik, a coordinator with the New York-based National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, noted that gay, lesbian and transgender crime victims may be more reluctant than heterosexual victims to contact police."Assailants target LGBT people of all gender identities with sexual assault," he said. "Such targeting is one of the most cruel, dehumanizing and violent forms of hate violence that our communities experience."Skolnik said the group plans to analyze hate crime data to see whether fluctuations may be related to the gay marriage bans that appeared on ballots this year in California, Arizona and Florida."Anytime there is an anti-LGBT initiative, we tend to see spikes both in the numbers and the severity of attacks," he said. "People feel this extra entitlement to act out their prejudice."
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
homophobia kills
why al this hate why cant we live the way we want who is deserved to be judjed now us or thim well god judjed us or thim for doing hate and crime when we just want to love and be ourself who deserved to be jujed now
help us god i want thim to get what they deserved
i feel sorry for the girl really i do
