By Delphine Schrank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 25, 2007

D.C. police said yesterday that they have launched a hate-crime investigation into an assault that took place early Saturday outside a Northwest Washington nightclub.

At least three assailants riding bicycles followed the victim as he walked away from a nightclub at Ninth and O streets NW in the Shaw neighborhood, police said. They taunted him with anti-gay remarks and then hit him with an unidentified object, police said.

The assailants, who escaped, were in their teens or early 20s, said Sgt. Brett Parson, former commander of the police department's gay and lesbian liaison unit.

The victim, whose name was not released, was treated at a hospital for cuts and bruises, Parson said. His wallet has been missing since the attack, but Parson said it is unclear whether the attackers took it.

Authorities said they are investigating two other recent attacks that appear to be hate-motivated. The crimes do not appear to be related, they said.

On Sept. 13, a transgender person was thrown through a plate-glass window in the 800 block of Seventh Street NW, police said. Authorities said they arrested a juvenile near the scene of that attack. Early Sept. 9, a man was attacked in the 1400 block of 36th Street NW by two men who made anti-gay remarks, police said.

"These types of crimes are intolerable," Parson said, noting that D.C. law calls for enhanced penalties for hate crimes.