Sandy Attackers Charged With Murder

Today the NYPD upgraded the charges to include murder, in the case of Brooklyn gay-bashing/robbery victim Michael Sandy, who died on Friday after being taken off life-support. Four young straight men laid in waiting for Sandy, after luring him for sex using a gay internet hook-up site (rumored to be Manhunt.net). Sandy broke away from from his attackers and ran onto the Belt Parkway, where he was struck by a hit-and-run driver. Two of the young men in custody (who were ID’d using IP addresses found on Sandy’s computer) are now charged with second degree murder, second degree manslaughter, assault and robbery – all with hate crimes embellishments.

Sandy had agreed to meet one of his attackers on a street corner in Sheepshead Bay. His “date” and he then drove to Plum Beach where the other three young men were lying in wait. Police are calling this the “first case” of a gay man lured into an attack with the use of a gay “chat room”, but I have heard of two other situations like this, in both cases the gay man escaped serious injury but was robbed. Guys, please take care in your internet hook-ups, the reason that these crimes come in waves is that the bad guys TALK TO EACH OTHER. Once the word gets out that gay men are seemingly easy marks using this chat room tactic, these crimes will only escalate. If you have been the victim of one of these scenarios, please do your gay brothers a favor and GO TO THE POLICE.