Sean Blay, a gay man who is a resident of the Rogers Park neighborhood, was, on the morning of Aug. 6, attacked while walking his two dogs.
Blay and the dogs were near the intersection of Touhy and Paulina at about 8:30 a.m. when they were about to pass another man who was loudly speaking on his iPhone, Blay said.
"When he approached me, he said, 'Get your fucking dogs away from me,'" recalled Blay, who added that the exchange between him and the other man led one of the dogs to begin to walk in the direction of the other man.
"The dogs felt like he was saying hello, and the dogs went up to greet him," Blay said. "He kicked my one dog, Jefferson, who is really sick. … Jefferson is a cool and collected Labrador-pit bull mix and just came up to give him a hello."
But the man then grabbed Blay by the arms and threw him up against the side of a building.
"He told me to, 'Get the dogs away from [me], you fucking faggot.' He kept calling me a faggot. As he walked away, all I said was, "Really? Could this really be happening?"
Blay said the incident was over in about five minutes. He returned to his home before calling police, he added. He also said the officers recognized his description of the assailant, a local resident with a history of problems seemingly related to mental illness; they did not divulge his name. Blay filed a report about the incident, however.
"My dogs are the sweetest, most gentle dogs you'll ever meet," he said. "To kick a sick dog who has an ear issue and then to push me? That's why I haven't left my house again today. I've just been very depressed about this."
Blay described the assailant as an African American male, who is about 6'2, who wore green khaki pants and a long-sleeved brown shirt.
