5 out-of-town men charged with hate crime on Seattle’s Capitol Hill
Jun 4, 2013, 12:00 PM | Updated: 12:21 pm
King County prosecutors have charged five men with a hate crime after police say they beat a man on Capitol Hill.
Trey Amberson, 22, of Trustville, Ala.; Justin Echols, 22, of West Palm Beach, Fla.; Aaron Nelson, 21, of Gaston, Ore.; William Berger, 21, of Davie, Fla.; and Zachary Kocikhill, 21, of La Mesa, Calif. have been charged with malicious harassment, which is Washington’s hate crime statute.
The Seattle Times reports the five jumped the 20-year-old black male victim after yelling racial and homophobic slurs at him.
Prosecutors say the doorman at the Comet Tavern witnessed the suspects beating the man to the ground and began punching and kicking him.
Amberson, Echols, Nelson and Berger have arrest records.
The victim was treated by medics and taken to Harborview Medical Center.
KIRO Radio’s Chris Sullivan contributed to this report.
