SANDY, Utah (ABC4) – A teenager has been detained after allegedly assaulting another juvenile male after spotting him hugging his boyfriend in the driveway of their home on Saturday night.
Sandy Police say the teenage suspect’s case has been sent to juvenile courts to determine the charges he will face which could vary from a simple assault to a potential hate crime.
In an expletive-filled video posted on Twitter by Rainbow Youth Project USA, the alleged assault incident was caught on camera sometime after midnight on Saturday.
“A gay young man was hugging his boyfriend in front of his home. The young men in this Infiniti stopped and the one person punched the kid in the face while calling him a “fa**ot.” We need to identify this assailant. Contact Sandy, UT police,” a social media post by Rainbow Youth Project USA reads.
The video has garnered over 96,000 views by Monday and has been shared over 2,600 times so far.
The victim recording the video can be heard asking the suspects to “get in their car and leave” multiple times, but the suspects are seen still sticking around.
Before eventually leaving, the suspect is seen yelling out a homophobic slur before stepping into the back seat of a sedan with others inside before the vehicle drives away.
Authorities are still working to determine the events leading up to the confrontation.
Police say the suspect was detained, then later released to his parents. Investigators will submit the case to a juvenile court for charges of assault with a potential hate crime enhancement which is a class A misdemeanor.
