THUGS BEAT B'KLYN MAN IN VICIOUS 'BIAS' BASH

(original link)
By LARRY CELONA and ERIKA MARTINEZ

October 9, 2006 -- A man was beaten, chased into traffic and hit by a car, and then dragged off the road and pummeled again by his attackers in a possible hate crime reminiscent of the notorious Howard Beach attack of 1986, sources told The Post.

The victim, a 28-year-old black man, had been in the parking lot of Brooklyn's Plum Beach off Jamaica Bay around 9:30 p.m. when he was attacked by a group of whites, a preliminary investigation revealed.

They chased him into traffic, where he was sideswiped by a car.

Then he was dragged back to the side of the road and beaten again, according to the sources.

He was found unconscious and rushed to Brookdale Hospital.

Cops from the Hate Crimes Unit were on the scene.

Plum Beach is known as a gay cruising spot and detectives were trying to determine if either race or sexual orientation was the motive for the attack, the sources said.

There were no immediate arrests.

In the Howard Beach attack three bat-wielding white men chased three blacks who had ventured into a pizza parlor in the predominately white neighborhood.

One of the victims, 23-year-old Michael Griffith, ran onto the Belt Parkway - only a few miles east of last night's attack - and was killed by a car.

Three white men were convicted: Jon Lester served 12 years in prison and in 2000 was deported back to his native England.

Scott Kern was released from prison in 2002 and Jason Ladone in 2000.

larry.celona@nypost.com