QUEENS: Hate Crime Charge After Gay Slurs Precede Taser Attack

The Queens County District Attorney has filed hate crimes charges against a man accused of using a Taser against another man after shouting anti-gay slurs. 

Joseph Desmond, 23, of the 0-99 block of Eldert Street in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, was arraigned Tuesday on an indictment charging him with second-degree assault as a hate crime, and three other felony charges. Around 8:10 p.m. Sept. 25, the 23-year-old victim was standing at Gates and Fairview avenues in Queens, when Desmond allegedly walked up to him, hurled an anti-gay slur, shocked him with a Taser to his torso, and ran off. The victim suffered chest pains, but was able to call police. Desmond was arrested soon afterward in the courtyard of a building nearby, prosecutors said.

The DA told CBS News: "Every person has the right to feel safe to walk the streets without being harassed or assaulted based on race, religion, gender or sexual orientation." (The actual sexual orientation of the victim has not been disclosed.)

RELATED: Civilian possession of a Taser or similar "shock gun weapon" is a felony in New York state. Only four other states have such bans: Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.