A Massachusetts man accused of striking another man with a shovel, attacking him with a box cutter and calling him anti-gay slurs has been arrested on charges of assault and committing a hate crime, Boston police said.
Boston police officers responded to reports of an assault around noon Tuesday and found a man bleeding from the head.
The 25-year-old man who was attacked had just left Prentiss Street when Eddie Smith, 58, of Boston, began directing anti-gay slurs at him, according to the police report. Smith hit the man with a shovel and cut him with a box cutter near his eye, police said.
Officers said they found a box cutter and a snow shovel. The injured man told police Smith had directed anti-gay slurs at him in the past.
The injured man was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Smith will be arraigned on charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, mayhem, and committing a hate crime.
It's unclear whether Smith has a lawyer to speak on his behalf.
