Crown Heights Hammer Attack Being Investigated As Possible Hate Crime

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NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) An attack on a man inside his Brooklyn apartment building is being investigated as a possible hate crime.

Mitch Pope has five staples in his head after a being attacked by someone with a hammer. He told CBS 2s Emily Smith that a man followed him home and beat him while yelling gay slurs.

And then he was on top of me, hitting me with the hammer, and I was afraid for my life, so I started screaming and fighting back, Pope said.

It happened around 11 a.m. on Monday, in the lobby of Popes Crown Heights apartment building. Pope had just made his usual coffee stop, and planned to go back up to his apartment when he noticed someone following him.

Heavier guy , black with a scruffy beard, he had a skully on, and a brown hoodie, Pope said.

The building has a locked door with a buzzer system, but police said that the suspect followed the man right into the building and attacked him in the lobby.

At first Pope thought the attacker might have been a construction worker on the property for a recent project. The next thing he knew, he was being attacked and pushed down a set of stairs.

As WCBS 880s Alex Silverman reported, he had to get five staples in his head after the attack.

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Crown Heights Hammer Attack Being Investigated As Possible Hate Crime