Crime & Safety

Police: Teen Charged with Hate Crime

Nicholas Minniti, 18, is accused of aggravated battery in attack on gay teen.

Police said anti-gay bias was behind an assault on a local teen Sunday outside a Plainfield .

Nicholas Minniti, 18, of the 2100 block of Brindlewood Drive, Plainfield was arrested early Sunday and faces a felony hate crime charge, along with charges of aggravated battery, illegal transportation of alcohol and underage possession of alcohol.

Cmdr. Anthony Novak said a group of teens was gathered in front of the McDonald’s at 15810 S. Route 59 shortly after midnight on Sunday. When they discovered the dine-in area of the restaurant was closed, they turned to leave, only to be approached by a vehicle driven by Minniti, police said.

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A passenger in Minniti’s car had a mutual friend in the group gathered outside of McDonald’s, and as the two groups conversed, someone inside the car asked one of the other teens if he was gay, police said.

“The kid basically admitted to being a homosexual, approached the car and asked if they had any kind of issue with that,” sparking a verbal confrontation, Novak said. Passengers in the car made several anti-gay slurs, according to police.

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Minniti then drove away, Novak said, but as the vehicle began to exit the McDonald’s parking lot, the target of the slurs retaliated, throwing his shoe at the car and hitting the passenger’s side.

“There’s different stories [on what] transpired from there,” Novak said, but police belief Minniti exited the vehicle and began choking and physically assaulting the victim, who sustained abrasions in the attack.

After the attack, the vehicle fled the scene, but the teens in the McDonald’s parking lot were able to take down a license plate number before calling police, Novak said.

Officers who conducted a traffic stop on Minniti’s vehicle also discovered evidence that the teen was drinking, according to Novak. 


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