On the afternoon of April 8, two gay men were the target of a violent anti-LGBT attack that occurred in Miami Beach shortly after the city’s Pride Parade.
The couple, Dmitry Logunov and Rene Chalarca, were severely beaten by four men as they walked home after celebrating LGBT Pride.
Surveillance cameras outside the Miami Beach bathroom, located near the beach along Ocean Drive and Sixth Street, recorded the assault.
The victims said they were targeted for their sexual orientation as their assailants yelled gay slurs during the attack.
In addition, Helmut Muller Estrada, a good samaritan who jumped in trying to stop the attack, was also seriously injured requiring a hospital visit.
At the time, Estrada told the press: “To step up for those guys, I thought it was the right thing to do. I try my best. On sex and religion, I hope they get along someday.”
Only three days after the beating, thanks to surveillance photos that went viral thanks to social media, the four men turned themselves in to Miami Beach Police via a lawyer.
At the time, they were charged with felony aggravated battery.
Today, The Miami Herald is reporting Miami-Dade prosecutors have now filed the enhanced aggravated battery with prejudice hate crime charges.
If convicted each of the men – Pablo Reinaldo Romo-Figueroa, 21, Luis Alonso-Piovet, 20, Juan C. Lopez, 21, and Adonis Diaz, 21 – could face up to 30 years in prison.
Watch the report below from the local CBS affiliate.
