Shortly after having misdemeanor battery charges against them dropped Feb. 23, three men alleged to have beaten up a gay man on a northbound red line train last month were re-arrestedthis time on charges of felony hate crimes, as well as aggravated battery. The three defendantsSean Little, Kevin McAndrew and Benjamin Eder, all of Evanstonwere jailed overnight and released on a $10,000 individual recognizance bond the following day.
The charges stem from a Jan. 10 incident in which the three are alleged to have beaten a Rogers Park man, 33-year old Daniel Hauff, after Hauff attempted to intervene in an altercation on the train. Hauff, who was taken to the hospital for injuries sustained in the attack, told Windy City Times that the hate-crimes charges filed against the three were the result of pressure that he placed on the police department and the Cook County state's attorney's office.
"If I hadn't pushed," Hauff said, "nothing would have happened."
The state's attorney's office said that it had decided to upgrade the case to include the hate-crimes charges after conducting an investigation in conjunction with the Chicago Police Department. Hauff, who said that he was interviewed several times over the course of the investigation, said that a witness has also come forward to corroborate his allegations.
That witness, Chris Davin, released photographs to Windy City Times that he says show McAndrew, Little and Eder attacking Hauff on the Argyle train platform, including a dramatic image that appears to show one of the defendants' fists making contact with Hauff's face.
Davin was critical of the Chicago Transit Authority ( CTA ) for its handling of the situation. He said that though clear pleas were made for the CTA operator to stop the train and call the policenumerous people on the train had pressed the emergency buttonthat operator continued to move the train. The three men attacking Hauff, said Davin, told the operator that he was drunk and that she shouldn't take his complaints seriously.
"What's the whole purpose of the emergency button on the train?" Davin asked.
Last month, CTA told Windy City Times that a preliminary investigation showed that the train's operator "responded appropriately."
In a statement announcing the hate crimes charges, State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said, "The damage of a crime such as this goes well beyond the original victim and permeates the entire community. These crimes are taken seriously and they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
Daniel Coyne, a lawyer representing Kevin McAndrew, declined to comment on the facts of the case. "There's really nothing to say," Coyne said, "until we know specifically what the nature of the complaint is."
The three defendants are next scheduled to appear in court March 17.