Teens charged with hate crime after beating of elderly New York man

Three teenage boys have been arrested and charged with hate crime-related offenses in connection with the verbal and physical assault of a 72-year-old gay man in New York City on Friday night.

A fourth suspect was caught on camera fleeing with the trio, however, police have not confirmed whether they are actively pursuing him.

According to the New York Post, the teens have been charged with gang assault, assault as a hate crime, and criminal possession of a weapon. Their names have not been released.

The three alleged assailants, ages 13, 14, and 16, are suspected of having accosted the victim with anti-LGBT slurs before physically attacking him at the intersection of Ninth Avenue and West 17th Street in the Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea.

The elderly man, whose identity has also not been revealed to the public, suffered a broken jaw and cuts to his face and hands. Despite being brutally beaten, he managed to make his way to a nearby hospital and receive treatment for his wounds.

After allegedly carrying out the attack, the teens fled the scene, running into a building on West 19th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues.

The New York Police Department's Hate Crime Task Force was put in charge of investigating the incident and helped authorities track three of the boys down.

According to the NYPD, male homosexuals account for the second-highest number of victims of hate crimes throughout the city, with Jewish people taking the number one spot.

Between January 1 and June 27 of this year, 235 hate crimes have been reported, resulting in 135 arrests. Precinct 107, which includes Jamaica and the area east of Flushing Meadows Corona Park, recorded the most hate crimes, with 15, though Precinct 084, Brooklyn Heights and downtown, had the highest number of arrests.