Maryland man arrested after years of assaulting men he believed were gay in DC park, DOJ says
A Maryland man was arrested Thursday after authorities say he pretended to be a police officer and attacked men he believed to be gay in a Washington, D.C. park — attacks that federal authorities say went on sporadically on for several years.
Michael Thomas Pruden, 48, was arrested in Virginia after a grand jury indictment charged him with five counts of assault on federal land, one count of impersonating an officer and a hate crimes enhancement alleging Pruden assaulted four of the men because he thought they were gay.
The federal indictment says on five separate occasions between April 30, 2018 and March 26, 2021, Pruden approached and assaulted five men in Meridian Hill Park, known in the city as Malcolm X Park.
Federal authorities say Pruden would go to the park after sunset. On two occasions, he was accused of pretending to be an officer, yelling commands and shining a flashlight at men, according to an indictment filed last month that was unsealed Thursday. He then sprayed the men with a "chemical irritant," the document reads.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/07/15/arrest-assault-gay-men-washington-park/10068431002/
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