HARLEM, NY — A man has been indicted on hate crime charges after allegedly shooting a 23-year-old stranger outside a Harlem deli while making an anti-gay remark, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced.
Theodore Tucker, 30, was hanging out with a group near the deli at West 139th Street and Lenox Avenue on July 18 when the victim arrived in a car at about 3:59 a.m., according to prosecutors.
After the man got out of the passenger side and began walking toward the deli, Tucker approached him and made an anti-gay remark, prosecutors said.
When the victim repeated the remark back to Tucker and continued toward the deli's entrance, Tucker pulled out a gun and shot him in the back, according to the indictment.
The wounded man entered the deli and attempted to call 911, prosecutors said. One of Tucker's alleged associates followed him inside, told him not to contact police and stood in a fighting stance in front of the door in an effort to stop him from calling authorities or leaving, according to the DA's office.
That person has been charged separately in a Criminal Court complaint, prosecutors said.
The victim was eventually able to leave the deli and went to a hospital for treatment of the gunshot wound. Tucker was arrested on Aug. 8, according to Bragg's office.
"Every New Yorker deserves to feel safe and be treated with respect, without fear of harm simply for being who they are," Bragg said. "Theodore Tucker allegedly escalated hateful words into senseless gun violence, targeting an innocent stranger because of his sexual orientation."
Tucker was charged with two counts each of attempted murder in the second degree as a hate crime, attempted assault in the first degree as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree.
For questions, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.
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