Port Washington man charged with throwing coffee while yelling anti-gay slurs
A Port Washington man has been arrested and charged with hate crime offenses for allegedly throwing hot coffee at a member of the LGBTQ community last weekend, Port Washington police said in a news release Thursday.
Matthew Rowlinson, 26, was arrested without incident Wednesday in connection with the assault, according to the release. He is accused of walking up to the man, 21, on July 1, and throwing hot coffee at his chest while yelling an “anti-gay” slur, then leaving, according to police.
The incident happened around 4 p.m. when the victim pulled up on a motorcycle to a Starbucks on Main Street, according to police.
Rowlinson has been charged with third-degree assault as a hate crime and second-degree aggravated harassment as a hate crime. Police did not have further details on what led to the arrest.
He was issued an appearance ticket and is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Hempstead on July 20.
Rowlinson could not be reached for comment Thursday. An online search did not show details on his case or whether he was represented by a lawyer.
Police, officials, and members of the LGBTQ community had condemned the attack at the time. Port Washington Assistant Police Chief Kevin McCarroll said then that there was “zero tolerance” for a hate crime in the community.
Deborah Morris is a native Long Islander and covers the town of Huntington.
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