Alexander Ortiz charged with hate crime in Rochester

Police charged the man, Alexander J. Ortiz, with assault in the first incident, claiming it was a hate crime because of the insults. Because of the hate crime, the charge was now upgraded to a felony.

Ortiz is 29 and is listed as homeless in court records.

The police claim:

• On June 11 at approximately 5:20 p.m., a man noticed a car following him as he walked along the 700 block of Monroe Avenue. The car then accelerated toward him and the man jumped out of the way before running to his nearby workplace.
• Ortiz “exited the vehicle and followed him inside. He then struck him several times while yelling homophobic slurs before fleeing in his vehicle,” a police news release said.
• According to police, Ortiz then struck a pedestrian at Price Rite at 1230 University Ave. about 45 minutes after the alleged attack while driving. “The pedestrian, a man in his 40s, was transported to StrongHospital for treatment of what appeared to be a non-life-threatening upper body injury,” the release states. The arrest report provides further details, saying the injuries included “multiple skull fractures, facial lacerations and internal bleeding.”

According to the police report, the victim was thrown into the air when he was struck by the car. Ortiz also faces criminal charges for the Price Rite incident, including hit-and-run and assault.