Oregon Public Broadcasting

Police in Washington County are looking for a man who beat a woman with a rock. As Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, police say he did it after learning she was gay.

The 20-year-old woman was walking along a street in Aloha at about 6 o’clock in the evening, when the man asked for a cigarette. Sergeant David Thompson says what happened next is being investigated as a hate crime.

David Thompson: “He said, are you gay and she said, yes I am. He then started to berate her about her sexual orientation. Eventually pushed her, she fell to the ground. She got up and tried to defend herself by swinging at the suspect. He then punched her in the face, knocked her back down to the ground, struck her in the head with a rock.”

The woman suffered several non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to hospital by a friend. 

Police say the suspect is between 16 and 22 years old, six feet tall with a babyish face and very large ears.

The suspect faces several years behind bars if convicted of what is a Measure 11 crime.