Pictured The car damaged Sunday night. Photo by Gernhardt Publications
Two gay men were attacked in an alley just behind the popular North Halsted restaurant Nookies Sunday night. The five women and one man came from two cars, with one woman brandishing a bat and allegedly doing extensive damage to the victims’ car. But on Wednesday, when an arrest was made, the police report indicates that the incident started a few blocks away as a ‘road rage’ situation between the vehicles’ drivers. It also appears all those involved are gay or lesbian, and as a result, no hate-crime charges will be filed. The driver of one of the cars has been charged with criminal damage to property. Mike Banko and Jeff Durbin, partners in life and business, said they turned into the alley around 9 p.m. and beeped at a stopped car. From behind, out of a white Jeep Cherokee, Banko said several people began pounding on the couple’s car. The men got out to get the attackers to stop, but the altercation soon escalated. ‘They attacked me right away—they were hitting, bashing, kicking … . All of a sudden, one girl, the driver of the Jeep, says, ‘Get me my bat so I can take care of the faggot.’ Jeff shoved me into the car … I locked the doors. She trashed my car—we were blocked in.’ Some of the dozen or so witnesses may have called police, because a patrol car was coming down the alley and the suspects fled. ‘Hate-crime charges were rejected when it became clear this was a road rage situation that happened several blocks away and escalated further, as which time their was mutual combat and no parties were charged with anything further,’ said a police spokesperson. Police had one of the license plates, and that information led to the arrest late Tuesday, and the charges of criminal damage to property. Banko was treated for cuts at a hospital, and Durbin has scratches from broken glass.