Investigation Continues Into Center City Alleged Attack On Same-Sex Couple
By Jan Carabeo, Matt Rivers
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The investigation continues into an attack on a same-sex couple in Center City.
According to an Archdiocese of Philadelphia spokesperson, an assistant coach at Archbishop Wood High School resigned in connection with the brutal beating. The spokesperson says when confronted with the matter, the male resigned. It is not known exactly how he was involved at this time.
The coach had been working on a contract basis and was not a teacher at the school. He will not be allowed to coach at any Archdiocesan school.
Police, meanwhile, continue to investigate and other persons of interest are turning up, the latest one coming to Central Detectives Wednesday night.
A person of interest in the case walked in to Central detectives to be questioned about the severe beating of a same-sex couple in Rittenhouse Square last Thursday.
His lawyer, Brian McVan, would only say this.
"I'm sure the police will make announcement at a good time. Thank you," McVan said.
This comes after an assault on two gay men put one of them in the hospital for three days. The pair says people from this group, seen on surveillance video, shouted gay slurs as they attacked. A photo circulated on social media shows the group eating dinner at a nearby restaurant before the attack. One Twitter user helped identify some of the group by looking who had checked in at the restaurant on Facebook.
"Most of them would have pictures of people from the video with their names tagged," the Twitter user said.
Police are still putting a case together, and no charges have been filed yet. But if they do come down, no one involved would be charged with a hate crime. Under current law, only crimes motivated by race, religion or ethnicity can be prosecuted as a hate crime.
The restaurant the group ate at, La Viola, has been receiving criticism on social media about the incident, despite saying they had nothing to do with the attack.
In a statement they said in part, "We were horrified to learn any of our patrons could have been involved in such a crime. Our thoughts are with the victims and we wish the gentlemen a speedy recovery."
Police tell CBS 3 that no charges will be filed in this case until they have a very clear picture of what happened.
Must Read Today's Top Stories
