Corey Stedman, the young man assaulted Thursday morning on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, contacted WEHOville this evening to describe his assailants as “gang bangers” armed with a knife and a gun and objected to his being characterized as gay.
Stedman, 25, had not responded to numerous texts and telephone calls made by WEHOville before publication of the story on Friday in which someone who found him after the attack characterized him as gay. In a text exchange this evening Stedman said he was not gay and thus not the victim of a hate crime. And he said that he had not been drinking at Micky’s before the incident, as was rumored, but was at The Abbey with a female friend and her gay friend. Stedman said he is “LGBT friendly” and that he “loves and respects everyone.”
Stedman, who was on his way to visit a friend in the early hours of Thursday morning, was unable to identify exactly where the attack occurred. He said a man stepped out of the shadows and assaulted him, kicking him in the head. Stedman, who said he used to box, fought back. But then three other men emerged from the shadows, one carrying a gun and another a knife. Stedman said the attack left him with a broken nose and broken jaw. Stedman said the men were Hispanic.
“When they saw that he couldn’t handle fighting me they all came out from different directions,” Stedman said. “So they got angry that they weren’t able to knock me out and pulled out weapons, so I just stopped fighting back.”
Stedman said the men didn’t utter any homophobic slurs, an accusation Sheriff’s deputies were investigating. “They thought I had money because I’m white and I was dressed nice,” he said. Stedman said the men stole his Armani blazer, which contained money and an ID.
Stedman said he works as a music extra and is building a modeling career. But now, he said, “I have a broken nose and I can’t do model shoots until my face is unf-cked, so I’m not happy.”
West Hollywood has experienced a number of assaults of gay men in and near the city’s Boystown nightlife district. One of the most notorious was the assault of Kirk Doffing, who was beaten behind the Rage bar on Santa Monica Boulevard almost a year ago. Doffing still remains in treatment for a serious brain injury. Earlier this month another young gay man, Christopher Burton, who also identifies himself as Christopher de la Cruz, said he was assaulted at night in a hate crime near the Pavilions grocery store. And in January Anthony Villegas, a 23-year-old gay man, was found unconscious near the Gelson’s grocery store after an apparent assault.
This area needs a much better police presence.
I agree with all points of Mr. McBreairty’s assessment. Well articulated
Numerous times when someone in our neighborhood has called the sheriff, they have been given a hard time on the phone & no sheriff has shown up when they should have. I hesitate to be critical of the Sheriff’s Dept, but this kind of resistence has happened so often that it seems to be a matter of routine policy rather than coincidence. Everyone I know in this area knows there is absolutely no sheriff’s presence in our surrounding neighborhood even though this particular corner in the vicinity of Santa Monica & La Cienega is overrun with constant questionable goings-on at… Read more »
Didn’t we just read that crime rates are lower in West Hollywood than other communities? I suppose that is not much consolation when you are being mugged. Crime comes in waves, (thus the term), but the Sheriff is generally slow in modifying patrol and deployments. I am sure we will hear lots of reasons why we need to take personal precautions when walking late at night but ideally we can see a more proactive response brought before the City Council by the Sheriff. Too bad the Sheriff seems to invest a dozen or more deputies during the frequent DUI check… Read more »
I do not feel a lot of these crimes are hate crimes, but rather just muggings for financial gain. They know that there is money around here, so it makes sense they are targeting men who frequent the area. I am not saying there are no hate crimes, but I feel that is not always the impetus, and they should not be intertwined.
This is every bit as chilling as if it were a hate crime aimed at any specific group. There are groups of thugs literally preying on our community – period – and I think it’s important we think about ALL the attacks this way. The gay community – of which I am a part of – is understandably and thankfully vocal when a gay resident is attacked, but the entire city needs to get equally charged every single time ANY individual is attacked here.
NRA yo. Time to fight back. The only language a thug understands is a bullet between the eyes.
Do you really have to bring up Kirk Doffing every time you do an article on someone getting assaulted? Why don’t you do an article updating us on his condition rather than just throwing his name around.
Why aren’t more cops walking around this area? Like the poster above said, it’s a wealthy area of LA. This is happening so often there and it’s a outdoor neighborhood with people walking around day and night.
Is our WeHo Sheriff Department aware of it at all? WeHo is a rich city paying this department our money to protect us from all that scam coming from nowhere of LA. New mayor, can you improve this situation somehow?