NEW YORK CITY: Suspect In Chelsea Chair-Bashing Turns Himself In

Via the New York Daily News:

The man accused of bashing a gay couple with a chair in a Chelsea barbecue restaurant has turned himself in, police sources said. Bayna-Lehkiem El-Amin, 41, surrendered to NYPD Hate Crime detectives at the Seventh Precinct and was being questioned Tuesday, the sources said. He was charged with assault and attempted assault. El-Amin slammed a chair over the heads of Jonathan Snipes, 32, and Ethan York-Adams, 25, during a dispute inside Dallas BBQ on Eighth Ave. near W. 23rd St. on May 5. He’s also accused of using homophobic slurs, police said. El-Amin left the city, but professed his innocence online. Writing on the blog The G-List, El-Amin said that he was the one victimized. “I was the victim … I was sitting at my table,” he wrote. “With no provocation, he came up and hit me. There was no slur thrown at him.”

Gothamist notes that El-Amin “reportedly has 18 arrests in numerous states for assault, credit-card fraud, possession of stolen property, and forgery.”