Austin Police Department detectives charged a University student and a former student with hate crimes Tuesday in connection with the alleged mid-July beating and robbery of a gay man. The two are charged with aggravated sexual assault and aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, both first-degree felonies, said APD Detective Julie Jacobs, who investigated the case.
She said the allegations stem from a July 17 incident in which Darren Gay, a 21-year-old biochemistry senior, and Donald Bockman, a 24-year-old former psychology senior, along with two other men, allegedly beat and robbed the 32-year-old victim at his home on Wickersham Lane.
Jacobs said the suspects met the victim at Oilcan Harry's, a gay bar in Austin's Warehouse District, and accompanied him back to his home at about 2 a.m.
Once there, the four men allegedly forced the victim to sodomize himself with an object at knifepoint while they used homosexual slurs and denounced gay marriage. She also said the men made references to Old Testament verses dealing with homosexuality while they beat the victim with their fists. About two hours later, she said, the suspects robbed the man and left his home. She said the victim suffered minor cuts from the knife but was not stabbed.
Jacobs said the case is considered a hate crime because the suspects' motivation was a prejudice toward a specific group of people. Classification as a hate crime carries increased punishment, although the two first-degree felonies already carry a maximum punishment of life in prison.
This incident was meant to send a brutal message to the gay community, said Randall Ellis, executive director of the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas.
"The important thing is to keep in mind these are crimes against a whole class of citizens," he said.
Ellis said the case is one of the most violent crimes against homosexuals in recent years.
Jacobs said police were able to catch the men because of a tip they received from a witness.
After leaving the victim's home, Gay walked to a nearby Albertson's parking lot and paid the witness $20 to drive him home. She said that during the drive, Gay bragged about the incident to the witness, who later reported the information to APD's tip line.
Matt Burgoon, a civil engineering junior, said he worked with Gay every day this summer in a technical research group and has a difficult time believing the allegations, because Gay is "a genuinely nice guy."
"I don't believe what's happened is the entire truth," he said.
Burgoon said he has discussed the issue of gay rights with Gay in the past and does not believe that Gay would ever hurt anyone because of a prejudice.
"I don't think he's the type of person that would judge somebody without knowing them," he said.
Jacobs said detectives also arrested a 16-year-old male in connection with the incident but have not yet arrested the 21-year-old fourth alleged suspect, Shawn Regan, who has no apparent ties to the University.
Gay and Bockman were taken to the Travis County jail Tuesday and have not yet paid their $200,000 bails.
Jacobs said she could not release the juvenile's name because of his age, and declined to say why Regan had not been arrested. No court dates have been set for the suspects.
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