Teen accused of assault at McDonald's is charged with a hate crime

A 16-year-old is facing a hate crime charge after yelling comments about a man's sexual orientation Tuesday inside a McDonald's in Elmont, then spitting on and assaulting the victim, Nassau police said.

The 24-year-old male victim was inside the fast food restaurant on Hempstead Turnpike shortly before 4 p.m. when he heard a group of individuals yelling comments about his sexual orientation. When the victim asked the teens to stop, the juvenile began arguing with the man and  spat on him, authorities said.

After the two individuals were separated by McDonald's staff, the suspect approached the victim again, punching, kicking and making additional comments about his sexual orientation, police said.

The suspect fled on foot but was located by officers from the Fifth Precinct and arrested without incident.

The teen, who was not identified because of his age, was charged with third-degree assault as a hate crime and will be arraigned June 4 at First District Court in Hempstead.

Detectives ask anyone with information about this incident to call Crime stoppers at 800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.