Second arrest in hate crime against gay couple at Patchogue dock, cops say

An alleged accomplice of a man who police say harassed a gay couple and urinated on their vehicle was arrested and charged on Wednesday.

Thomas Gair Jr., 66, of Patchogue, is facing charges of third-degree assault as a hate crime and two counts of second-degree aggravated harassment for the May incident, Suffolk police said.

According to police, two women were watching the sunset at Mascot Dock in Patchogue at about 7:45 p.m. on May 14 when Gair and another man, Joseph Kess, made anti-lesbian remarks and sexually explicit insults from a vehicle.

Kess, 40, who was arrested in June, pleaded not guilty to third-degree assault as a hate crime, a felony, and other charges.

At the time, prosecutors said at his arraignment, Kess allegedly urinated on their vehicle, threw beer cans at the women and threw one of the women’s phones and sandals into the water while attempting to throw her into the water. His accomplice, Gair, repeatedly punched her in the head until a bystander intervened and pulled him off of her, prosecutors said.

The women, both 29, were treated for non-life-threatening injuries at a hospital, according to police.

Gair was scheduled to be arraigned at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead on Wednesday.

Attorney Scott Zerner of Manhattan, who represents Kess, declined to comment by phone Wednesday. In June, he told a judge that most of the “reprehensible” remarks could be attributed to Gair.