Atlanta police said that they have given up the search for a suspect who allegedly yelled homophobic slurs, and then was caught on video throwing a gay man into oncoming traffic as he was walking down the street with his boyfriend.
On Tuesday, the GA Voice published surveillance video of a March attack on a gay couple as they were leaving a restaurant.
“As we were walking up, a car started following slowly behind us. It was a BMW honking its horn. It was just making us uncomfortable really,” the boyfriend of the victim, who wished to remain anonymous, told the GA Voice.
He recalled that the suspect jumped out the car, and yelled "faggot." The man reportedly then punched his boyfriend in the back of the head, and shoved him into the street.
Surveillance video obtained from Atlanta Police Department shows the victim lying in the street as cars approach. One driver attempts to change lanes, nearly colliding with another vehicle. The driver slows down enough that the victim has time to return to the sidewalk.
“I didn’t know what happened at that time, all I know is [the victim] is in the street,” the witness said. “It all happened so fast.”
Before the suspect fled the scene, the boyfriend said that he was able to record cell phone video of the car and license plate.
He said that the suspect claimed to be "Mexican," and appeared to be in his 20s. He was wearing a red shirt, and an Atlanta Braves baseball cap.
The couple contacted 911 to report the attack to the Atlanta Police Department. Investigators later told the couple that they could not prosecute because the driver of the car had told them that he did not know his passenger who had attacked them.
"We were told they talked to the guy and they said he doesn’t know the passenger, and that he picked the guy up on one block and dropped him off on another,” the boyfriend of the victim explained. “It’s crazy to me saying, ‘I don’t know the passenger in my car who beat up that guy.’ It’s just crazy, I don’t believe it.”
An Atlanta Police Department investigator told the couple that they were also unable to get a subpoena for the driver's cell phone records.
“I was disappointed that the investigation ended with one conversation and that’s the best they can do. I think they can do better than that, and I would encourage them to do better than that,” the witness told GA Voice. “I’m not laying a lot of blame on the police department but I’m also not giving them any awards.”
He added that his boyfriend would no longer walk down the street in that area of Atlanta.
“It’s tough for him. It does bring back memories," he said.
Watch the videos below, provided by GA Voice.
