Police are searching for multiple suspects in connection with two possible hate-motivated assaults that took place outside a liquor store in Vaughan over the weekend.
The incidents occurred around 8:30 p.m. on May 6 outside a liquor store near Jane Street and Major Mackenzie Drive West.
According to York Regional Police, a suspect approached a 26-year-old man and commented on his choice of alcohol while uttering anti-homosexual derogatory slurs.
Sgt. Clint Whitney told CTV News Toronto the suspect may have mentioned something about the purchase of Bud Light beer.
“It turns out that it actually wasn't Bud Light,” Whitney said.
“The victim actually had a different colorful can … with a spectrum of colors on it and the suspect continued to make derogatory slurs, anti homosexual in nature, and then approached the victim male victim, at which point the woman stepped between them to intervene.”
The woman, 27, was then assaulted, police say.
“Two other suspects from the vehicle got involved, and the three suspects assaulted the male and the female together, knocking the male to the ground and assaulting the female to the point where she actually required hospital treatment,” Whitney added.
The suspects fled the area in a black Nissan Rogue with the Ontario licence plate CLHL733 after a bystander intervened, police said. The male victim sustained minor physical injuries.
On Tuesday, investigators released photos of one of the suspects, describing them as a white male between the ages of 25 and 35. The suspect has a slim build, short buzz-cut hair and a tattoo on his jawline and tattoos on both hands, police said.
He was last seen wearing a black Adidas jacket with white stripes on the arms, blue jeans and black and white sneakers with orange on the heels.
A second suspect is described as a male with a light-brown complexion, black hair, full black beard, wearing a red Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal soccer jersey.
Police have only described the third suspect as male.
Police say there was a crowd of people nearby at the time of the incident and are urging anyone with information to contact investigators at 1-866-876-5423 ext. 7441 or can contact Crime Stoppers anonymously.
“The seriousness of the assault and the aggravating factor, the possible hate motivated or hate motivation behind us, we take it very seriously,” Whitney said.
“And we're going to work on this and figure out what happened.”
