Daniel Rodriguez, the 22-year-old man accused of viciously beating Jack Price in 2009 because he is gay, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for hate crime. He pleaded guilty last year to first-degree robbery as a hate crime, even though his father didn't believe him. Rodriguez said in court, "Through the grace of God I hope someday Jack Price will forgive me." more ›

Jack Price was coming out of a College Point deli late one night in October 2009 when he was savagely beaten by two men, Daniel Rodriguez Jr., 22, and Daniel Aleman, 27. The sickening assault and robbery was caught by a surveillance camera, and by the time Price, 50, got medical attention, doctors had to put him into a medically-induced coma. He was hospitalized for 22 days and suffered a broken jaw, several broken ribs, two collapsed lungs and a lacerated spleen, the Post reports. At Aleman's sentencing yesterday, he apologized, while also blaming his behavior on booze. more ›

Earlier today 22-year-old Daniel Rodriguez Jr. pleaded guilty to beating and robbing Jack Price specifically because he is openly gay. He admitted to taunting Price with gay slurs before beating him up, leaving him in a medically-induced coma, and taking his cash. However, Rodriguez's father seems to have still not come to terms with his sons misdeeds. He told the Post, "This incident came about because of an argument over some kind of writing of graffiti on the wall of the deli. I’d like to apologize to Jack Price and his family, but this didn’t happen because he was gay...and [Price] knows that." more ›

Two men have been charged with hate crimes in the brutal beating of a gay man that was caught on tape in College Point last October. A grand jury indicted 21-year-old Daniel Rodriguez and 26-year-old Daniel Aleman on 14 counts of assault and robbery as a hate crime, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced yesterday [pdf]. The two men allegedly attacked 49-year-old Jack Price after he left a deli around 4:30 a.m. on October 8th. Aleman and Rodriguez are accused of "shouting anti-gay slurs at him" before the assault, which left Price hospitalized for three weeks with a broken jaw, several broken ribs, two collapsed lungs and a lacerated spleen. more ›

Yesterday, hundreds of people gathered in College Point, Queens to protest the brutal attack that left a 49-year-old gay man clinging to life. Jack Price had been walking home on October 8 when he was savagely beaten—broken jaw, broken ribs, collapsed lung— by two men who called him gay slurs. Price's brother told the Daily News, "Nobody should have to worry about looking behind their backs. Parents have to teach their kids. They learn hatred and all that stuff at home." more ›

The Queens gay man who was nearly beaten to death spoke out about the brutal attack for the first time yesterday. Jack Price, 49, who is still in the hospital recovering from multiple injuries, told the Daily News, "I thought I died. I was bleeding all over the place." more ›

Initial reports about the brutal beating of an openly gay Queens man Friday night (video) mentioned that one of the alleged assailants told the victim, "My father is a C.O. [correction officer]. You will never do anything to us." That stupid boast had been unsubstantiated, until now. Last night the father of Daniel Rodriguez, the second man arrested in the alleged hate crime against Jack Price, came forward to speak to reporters. more ›

The second man accused of beating an openly gay man in Queens Friday morning was been returned to NYC last night, after being arrested in Norfolk, Virginia, late Tuesday. But the sister of suspect Daniel Rodriguez, 21, insists her brother did not commit a hate crime—because he has gay relatives and even once had a homosexual roommate. Christina Rodriguez tells the Daily News, "This wasn't a hate crime. If he's guilty of anything, he'll man up to it." Rodriguez's brother Eddie also vouched for him. more ›

A merchants' association in College Point, Queens recently installed a number of security cameras in the neighborhood to deter graffiti. Early Friday morning, one of those cameras captured in vivid detail the shocking assault on openly gay local Jack Price, 49, who was leaving a 24-hour deli. The attack left him in a medically induced coma with collapsed lungs, broken ribs, damaged spleen, and a metal plate in his jaw. This video shows how it happened, but be warned: It is extremely disturbing. more ›

Police have identified the second suspect in the savage beating of an openly gay Queens man who is still in grave condition after the Friday morning attack. On Sunday police arrested 26-year-old Daniel Aleman and charged him with assault and aggravated assault as a hate crime; they say the second assailant is Daniel Rodriguez, 21, of College Point, Queens. The victim, 49-year-old Jack Price, was leaving a 24-hour deli in College Point around 3 a.m. Friday when he was attacked by two men who allegedly screamed anti-gay slurs during the assault. He's in a medically-induced coma. more ›

An openly-gay Queens man is in a medically-induced coma after a brutal Friday morning beating which police are investigating as a hate crime. 49-year-old Jack Price was leaving a 24-hour deli in College Point around 3 a.m. when he was attacked by two men who allegedly screamed anti-gay slurs during the assault. Yesterday police arrested 26-year-old Daniel Aleman and have charged him with assault and aggravated assault as a hate crime; the second suspect remains at large. more ›