Police investigate hate crime after gay couple attacked in Mattapan

A gay couple walking in Mattapan was allegedly targeted with homophobic language earlier this month before one was hit in the back of the head with a baseball bat during a fight, police said.

One of the men in the couple told police that he and his partner were walking toward a convenience and liquor store on River Street just before 8 p.m. Sept. 13 when a group of men allegedly “began making anti-homosexual remarks towards them,” a police report obtained by Boston.com said.

That man approached the group and “a verbal dispute began,” the report said, which eventually led to a fight that spilled on to the street.

Two men in the group that allegedly used homophobic language “were seen swinging unidentifiable objects at the victims,” the police report said. The group allegedly split up to attack both men in the couple. 

When officers responded, they found one man of the couple lying in a River Street parking lot bleeding from the back of his head, according to the report. The couple alleges that he was hit with a baseball bat. 

The report noted the incident is a suspected hate crime, and the police department’s Civil Rights Unit was notified. 

The men were not identified in the report.

First responders treated the injured man at the scene, and he was transported to a Boston hospital for further evaluation, the report said. 

A spokesperson for the Boston police said the investigation is ongoing.

Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.