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DA: 3 To Be Charged In Alleged Assault On Same-Sex Couple In Center City

By Todd Quinones

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office has approved arrest warrants in connection with theassault of a same-sex coupleon September 11 in Center City.

Each one of the suspects faces two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of simple assault, two counts of recklessly endangering another person and one count of conspiracy.

Police say three suspects will turn themselves in on Wednesday.

It was surveillance video of some of the suspects that led to outrage and tips to police identifying who they are.

On Tuesday, the District Attorney's office announced three people from Bucks County will be charged.

They are 24-year-old Philip Williams of Warminster, 26-year-old Kevin Harrigan of Warrington and 24-year-old Katherine Knott of Southampton.

No answered the door at Knott's home, but a neighbor confirmed she is the daughter of Chalfont Police Chief Karl Knott.

The victims told police a group of people attacked them as they used anti-gay slurs.

The attack happened on September 11th near 16th Street just south of Walnut near Chancellor Street.

The beating left one of the men hospitalized with his jaw wired shut.

Outrage on social media websites led to the identities of the people in the video, but police say it took time to sort out which ones should be charged.

"Not everyone was involved in the situation. It's one of those things of getting everyone in, questioning everyone, interviewing and talking to a number of different witnesses and anyone who was possibly there during this incident," Philadelphia Police Lt. John Stanford.

An assistant coach for the Archbishop Wood High school basketball team, who resigned after being named a person of interest, has not been charged in this case.

The victims, who do not want to be identified, released this statement saying:

"Thank you to the community for their help and support, as well as the Detectives who did a great job gathering details. We are thankful the DA is working so hard to make sure this doesn't happen again in Philadelphia."

The suspects won't be charged with a hate crime because Pennsylvania's current hate crime law does not include sexual orientation.

Efforts are underway in Harrisburg to change that.

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