A Pennsylvania man is claiming that he was the victim of a gay-bashing incident about a week ago, in Butler, NJ. And there may be an off-duty police officer who witnessed at least part of the incident and refused to help.
In an account given to WWOR-TV (video link has audio problems), 23-year old Jesse Allard of Stillwater, PA, says he was attacked in a bar in the town of Butler in Morris County on December 26, and hospitalized in Paterson with leg and arm injuries. According to Allard's account, he went to the Trackside Bar to celebrate his birthday. Inside he complimented another patron on his coat, and everything slid downhill fast from there:
He called me a fag and he told me don't ever touch him again. So I was just like, 'Well, I'm sorry I'm just complimenting your coat."
Allard believes it was the bar's owner who he says dragged him out of the bar to a parking lot and held his arms while another man punched him in the face. He says his cell phone was taken from him and smashed. When Allard looked to a nearby motorist for help, he says the man - who he believes is a police officer - refused to assist him:
He said he heard someone say the driver of the car was a police officer. According to the report, Allard said the driver said he was not on duty and drove off.
Allard reports he was then hit by a Jeep whose driver "hit the gas" to hit him at a higher speed. A reporter's calls to the Butler Police Department went nowhere - the Chief unavailable and the Public Information Officer unavailable until Monday.
I'm including the link to WWOR-TV's interview with Allard below, but as I'm posting this the audio is still screwed up. I've emailed them to ask if it could be fixed.
