Shortly after having misdemeanor battery charges against them dropped Feb. 23, three men alleged to have beaten up a gay man on a northbound Red Line train last month were re-arrested—this time on charges of felony hate crimes, as well as aggravated battery. The three defendants—Sean Little, Kevin McAndrew and Benjamin Eder, all of Evanston—were jailed overnight and released on a $10,000 individual recognizance bond the following day.
The charges stem from a Jan. 10 incident in which the three are alleged to have beaten a Rogers Park man, 33-year old Daniel Hauff, after Hauff attempted to intervene in an altercation on the train. Hauff, who was taken to the hospital for injuries sustained in the attack, told Windy City Times that the hate-crimes charges filed against the three were the result of pressure that he placed on the police department and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office.
“If I hadn’t pushed,” Hauff said, “nothing would have happened.”
The state’s attorney’s office said that it had decided to upgrade the case to include the hate crimes charges after conducting an investigation in conjunction with the Chicago Police Department. Hauff, who said that he was interviewed several times over the course of the investigation, said that a witness has also come forward to corroborate his allegations.
In a statement, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said, “The damage of a crime such as this goes well beyond the original victim and permeates the entire community. These crimes are taken seriously and they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”