Hate crime suspect arrested in Rochester

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — A 29-year-old man was arrested Thursday and accused of punching one man and hitting another with his car in what police called a hate crime.

According to investigators, Alexander Ortiz drove his car toward a man walking along Monroe Avenue on Tuesday night. As the man ran to his nearby workplace, Ortiz allegedly got out of his car, followed him inside and struck him while yelling homophobic slurs. Ortiz then got back in his car, struck a pedestrian in the parking lot and fled.

Both victims were taken to hospital with injuries that police said were not life-threatening.

Ortiz was arrested Thursday and booked into the Monroe County Jail. He was charged with assault, two counts of reckless endangerment and failure to report a collision involving personal injury. The assault charge was upgraded from a misdemeanor to a felony as a hate crime.

Police said Ortiz also had an arrest warrant for harassment related to a previous incident.