Cops Make Arrest In NYC Gay-Bashing

The NYPD has made an arrest in the gay-bashing of a couple that had been holding hands on a Chelsea street last month.

Alfonso Lanier, 23, was charged Tuesday with aggravated harassment and assault as a hate crime, the New York Police Department said. Authorities are still looking for a second suspect. The assault took place August 14 in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The attackers used derogatory words about the victims' sexual orientations, New York Police Detective Marc Nell said. Michael Felenchak, 27, had to have multiple stitches on his chin and suffered scrapes across his stomach from the attack. "First they punched me so hard, I feel brass knuckles," the other victim, Peter Nortman, 53, told WABC. "Then I fell on the floor, and I jumped back up and I got hit again. And then I tried to pull them down."

The victims reported that their assailants were in a group of six men.