A November beating is now being classified as a hate crime and four men are now facing charges.
The men are accused of luring the 28-year-old victim to a home in Berlin on the pretense of having a party, beating him severely and stealing $180.
The men now face assault, robbery, hate crime and other charges.
The Hartford Courant is reporting that the victim is black and the four suspects are white.
The hate crimes charges stem from racial slurs screamed during the attack, Berlin Police said.
Kyle McBriarty, 22, and Paul Russo Jr., 21, both of Berlin, and Adam Howick, 21, of New Britain were charged Friday with second-degree robbery, third-degree assault, first-degree criminal mischief, unlawful restraint, second-degree intimidation based on bigotry and bias, disorderly conduct, sixth-degree larceny, falsely reporting an incident, second-degree false statement and conspiracy counts for each of these charges.
Colin McBriarty, 19, of Berlin is being held on $150,000 bond.
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Police have not released the victim’s name. He knew at least one of his attackers because they had been co-workers, police said.
Russo posted $250,000 bail. While Kyle McBriarty and Howick have been unable to post bail and remain in police custody.
