Salem Hate Crime Targets Victims Based On Sexual Orientation: Police

SALEM, MA — A group of young men are accused of harassing another group based on their perceived sexual orientation at the Wendy's on Lafayette Street and then hitting one of the victims with a gel-filled projectile from a toy gun after following them outside in what Salem police are calling a hate crime that occurred last week.

Police said they responded to the report of harassment on Friday night in which two adults and two juveniles were accused of taunting the victims about their perceived sexual orientation before following them outside where one of the victims said they were hit in the head with the projectile. Police said the projectile was determined to be an Orbeez — a gel-filled bead commonly used in small toy guns.

Police said the group accused of the harassment fled the area but were identified using security camera footage and witness interviews.

Dominick Jayden Espinal, 18, was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault to intimidate and a civil rights violation. Police said a second adult male, whom they did not publicly identify, and the two juveniles will also be summoned to court to face assault to intimidate and civil rights violation charges.

"The Salem Police Department takes any incident of bias-related crime seriously," Salem Police Chief Lucas Miller said in a statement, "and will investigate and charge individuals accordingly when incidents occur.

"All people deserve to go about their lives without fear or intimidation. The Salem Police Department wants the community to know that they have a partner in their police department, and to feel safe in reporting any similar crimes."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)