Cops: 3 arrested in Mastic Beach bias attack

In the second alleged anti-gay hate crime in Suffolk in less than two weeks, two women and a man were arrested after they punched and kicked a lesbian outside her Mastic Beach home while uttering slurs, police said Tuesday. The incident started at about 7 p.m. Monday after the suspects complained that the victim's partner was taking pictures as they drove past the victim's house, said Det. Sgt. Robert Reecks, commanding officer of the Suffolk police hate crimes unit. The victim's partner then photographed the assault, police said. The unidentified victim suffered swelling around the eyes, Reecks said. She was treated at a hospital and released, he said. The suspects, Nora Mitzner, 21, of Dune Road, Westhampton Beach; Lindsay McBeth, 25, of Route 112, Medford; and Selwyn Icangelo, 20, of Commack Road, Mastic Beach, were each charged with second-degree aggravated harassment, an upgraded charge because the assault was considered a hate crime, police said. Icangelo, Mitzner and McBeth drove by the victim's home on Gooseberry Drive Monday night, then got out of their car and "jumped" the woman, Reecks said. Police said they hit, kicked and pushed the victim while using a series of homophobic slurs. At Mitzner's arraignment Tuesday, her Legal Aid attorney, Michael Petruzziello, said the fight was "instigated" when the victim and her partner took the photographs of the defendants without their consent. Reecks said the attack was unjustified. "There was an argument about taking pictures," Reecks said. "That doesn't give you carte blanche to beat up somebody." Icangelo, who has a prior felony conviction, was held on $15,000 cash bail. Mitzner was ordered held on $2,000 bail, and McBeth was held on $500 bail. Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy condemned the alleged attack. "In Suffolk County," he said in a statement released by police, "we stand united in denouncing violent and abusive acts against a person because of their race, creed, ethnicity or sexual orientation." The Monday incident was the second time in the last month that a Suffolk resident was attacked because of his or her sexual orientation, police said. On June 19, a Central Islip man used anti-gay epithets while beating three gay men on Earle Street in Central Islip, Suffolk police said.