Homeless New York City man charged with multiple hate crimes for defecating on LGBTQ flag



A New York City homeless man was charged with multiple hate crimes for the offense of defecating on an LGBTQ flag.

The Buceo 95 restaurant in New York City regularly displays LGBTQ flags, pictures of President Joe Biden, and Ukraine flags. The tapas restaurant has hosted drag queen shows in the past.


Fred Innocent, a 45-year-old homeless man, is accused of taking two flags off a table at Buceo 95 in the Upper West Side around 10 a.m. on April 15. Innocent was reportedly caught on the restaurant's surveillance cameras defecating on an LGBTQ flag and wiping his backside with the other gay pride rainbow flag.

Buceo 95 owner Courtney Barroll told the New York Daily News, "This was a total hate crime. He came in within 15 minutes of us opening up the restaurant. He could have gone to Popeyes or McDonald’s around the corner. He could have used napkins."

Barroll vowed, "For the two flags that he has taken from us, I will put 50 more up, and I'll wallpaper the whole restaurant with them."

Barroll declared, "If I’m asked to go to court, I’m going to press for the maximum charge possible."

Nathan Nolen Edwards, the gay general manager of Buceo 95, said the incident was "definitely a punch to the gut. ... A defecation on a pride flag is not the norm here."

The restaurant provided the footage to the New York Police Department. The NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force initiated an investigation and then launched a manhunt for the homeless man.

\u201cWANTED HATE CRIME On 4/15/23 @ 10:00 AM, inside 201 West 95 St @NYPD24PCT the unidentified individual entered the location & defecated on a Pride flag. Any info call us at 800-577-TIPS or anonymously post a tip on our website https://t.co/TRPPY5zHV2 Reward up to $3,500.\u201d
— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPD Crime Stoppers) 1682745373

Investigators discovered that Innocent's address was a shelter in Harlem. He was arrested this week in Midtown.

Innocent was charged with burglary, harassment, and trespassing — all classified as hate crimes. He was also hit with additional charges of trespassing and burglary, which were not labeled as hate crimes.

New York State defines a hate crime as a "traditional offense that is motivated by bias" where a person commits a specified set of crimes "targeting a victim because of a perception or belief about their race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation, or when such an act is committed as a result of that type of perception or belief."

The New York Daily News reported, "In January of this year, he was arrested for burglary after swiping a purse from an employees-only area of a Manhattan hotel, cops said. Last October, he was busted for grand larceny and in 2007 and 1998, he was hit with felony assault charges in the Bronx, according to the NYPD."

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Video: College student wants to buy meal for homeless man, but Popeyes manager refuses to allow sale — and police are called on student



A Georgia State University student tried to buy a meal for a homeless man from an Atlanta Popeyes, but a manager at the fast-food restaurant refused to allow the sale — and police even were called on the student.

The GSU senior, Jo Ortega, recorded the incident on video and posted it last month on TikTok, where it's been viewed over 5 million times, according to WAGA-TV.

What are the details?

Ortega told WAGA she was picking up a DoorDash order from the Popeyes near Ponce de Leon Avenue when she noticed a man who looked hungry.

Image source: WAGA-TV video screenshot

But when she tried to order him a meal, no dice.

According to Ortega's video, she was in a vehicle in the drive-through lane when she asked for a manager — who eventually appeared and refused the transaction.

"No ma’am, you can’t do it," the manager says.

"Why? He’s asking for food," Ortega protests.

"Ma’am, you can’t do it," the manager repeats before adding, "I don't ... care about you recording me, baby."

And that was that.

But then it got even worse. Police were called on Ortega.

Image source: WAGA-TV video screenshot

"At that moment I was terrified," she later revealed to WAGA. "I thought I was gonna get arrested. I was like, 'Maybe I should just call my family, and I might not be coming home tonight.'"

Image source: WAGA-TV video screenshot

Atlanta police confirmed to the station that officers responded to a call about a woman refusing to leave the drive-through, but police didn't do anything since Ortega didn’t break any laws.

Not only that, she told WAGA that officers complimented her.

"The officer pulled me to the side and was like, ‘I really thank you for doing that; thank you for buying him food. I appreciate that,’" Ortega noted to the station.

Common sense prevails

Ortega told WAGA that a store general manager soon was contacted, and he felt terrible about what happened and then let Ortega and the homeless man order anything they wanted that night for free.

"My name's Jazz and thanks," the homeless man was heard saying as he waved to the camera outside Ortega's vehicle.

Popeyes told the station in a statement that it's "committed to treating everyone with dignity and respect" and that it has "ensured all employees at this restaurant have been provided with retraining to help navigate a range of guest interactions, such as the situation highlighted in the video."

Ortega told WAGA she started an online fundraiser to help Jazz find permanent housing: "Oftentimes the homeless are treated like stray animals, stray cats. 'If you feed them, they’re gonna keep coming back, and we don't want them to keep coming back.' In all of this, I believe that people deserve to be treated like people."

Intruder allegedly breaks down door of home, threatens to rape woman in bedroom — then gets beaten to a pulp



A homeless man allegedly broke down the door of a Florida home Friday morning and threatened to rape a woman in a bedroom, WOFL-TV reported.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Image source: YouTube screenshot

'Able to fight back'

But the woman and another person inside the Cocoa residence "were able to fight back," the station's correspondent said in a video report about the incident. "You can see they did some damage."

Indeed, a neighbor told WOFL that Brevard County sheriff's deputies brought the handcuffed suspect out the home on School Street and then put him on a stretcher and placed bandages on his face.

The station's correspondent said 40-year-old Christopher Sloan's mug shot shows the "aftermath of the struggle," during which he suffered a "huge cut" on his forehead, and one of his eyes is "swollen shut."

Image source: YouTube screenshot

What went down?

Deputies responded to the home around 6:30 a.m. after Sloan allegedly broke in and entered one of the home's bedrooms where a woman was lying in her bed, WOFL said, adding that an affidavit indicates the suspect threatened rape.

The home's residents defended themselves and called for law enforcement, WESH-TV said, citing Sloan's arrest report.

Deputies found Sloan in the back bedroom, where he was handcuffed and then taken to a hospital for his injuries, WESH added.

While the WOFL report indicated that Sloan was arrested without bond, WESH said Sloan was in the Brevard County jail on a combined $42,000 bond for burglary of an occupied dwelling, assault with intent to commit a felony, and criminal mischief totaling over $1,000.

Anything else?

A man who lives nearby told WOFL he was once homeless himself and isn't surprised by what happened.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

"I don't like people giving homeless people a bad rap because ... a lot of them just keep to themselves," he told the station. "But there are those who drink and do drugs, and then they all of a sudden want to get their fix, and they'll do things like what you described."

Florida woman fights back after man allegedly broke into her home, attacked heryoutu.be

Angry homeless man opens fire in New York City deli, kills customer. But off-duty cop is in store, too — and tackles, detains shooter.



An angry homeless man who had just been kicked out of a deli in Queens, New York, on Monday returned to the store and opened fire, fatally shooting a customer, police told the New York Daily News.

What are the details?

Steven Cohen, 63, lives out of his blue Honda Odyssey, the paper said, and he was at the store in Ozone Park to buy lottery tickets but was acting disorderly.

Mohmediyan Tarwala, 26, helped a worker escort Cohen out of the Cross Bay Express Deli, the Daily News said.

But Cohen returned around 6:15 p.m., opened the door, and opened fire, the paper said, hitting Tarwala twice in the stomach. Cohen then turned the gun on the clerk but lowered it after seeing the plexiglass barrier at the counter, sources told the Daily News.

The accused shooter took off, but New York City Police Officer Jason Maharaj — who was off duty and in the store — followed the suspect outside, wrestled him to the ground, and grabbed the gun, police told the paper.

Police recovered a Colt .45 handgun at the scene, sources told the New York Post.

Medics rushed Tarwala to Jamaica Hospital, but he could not be saved, the Daily News said.

Anything else?

Just prior to the shooting, Cohen entered another store, Beer Town, across the street, and told the clerk to call 911, the Daily News said.

"He seemed like he was in the middle of a medical emergency," Beer Town clerk Chris Hanlon told the paper. "He then just walked away."

Cohen is charged with murder, attempted murder, and criminal use of a firearm, the Daily News said.

Officer Maharaj is from the 77th Precinct and has been with the NYPD for two years, the Post reported.

What did folks have to say about the off-duty officer?

Commenters on the NYPD News page on Twitter praised the off-duty officer for stepping up.

"Great job!! So you think a social worker would have had the balls to do that?" one commenter asked. "Still want to get rid of police? GOD BLESS THE MEN & WOMEN OF THE NYPD!!"

"God bless our police!!! Never listen to the idiots out there. Mature sensible people appreciate and support you," another commenter said.

Although one quipped that "the officer will be suspended for assaulting the criminal because he tackled him!"