University police are investigating a report of a UCLA student who was threatened with anti-gay slurs by a man with a knife near the 400 block of Gayley Avenue early Friday morning, according to UCPD.
At about 1:30 a.m., the student was walking south on Gayley Avenue when a dark-colored four-door sedan pulled up in front of the student, according to a report released by UCPD Saturday. Two men got out of the car and walked over to the student. One of the men, who was holding a knife, then began to threaten the student with “anti-gay slurs,” the report stated.
The men got back in their car and fled south down Gayley Avenue.
The student received a few minor scrapes and bruises in the incident, according to the report, which did not clarify whether a struggle took place.
Police are investigating the incident as a hate crime, the report stated.
In 2011, police investigated a fight that broke out in Westwood that was possibly the result of a homophobic slur, according to Daily Bruin archives.
A few hate crimes were reported to UCPD last year, most of which involved vandalism rather than assaults, according to Daily Bruin archives. In February, racist and sexist slurs were written on an apartment door in Westwood belonging to UCLA students, and in November, similar slurs were written on a Vietnamese Student Union sign in Kerckhoff Hall.
In Friday’s incident, the man reportedly holding the knife was described as white, 26-27 years old, 5 feet 9 inches tall and 160-170 pounds. He had brown eyes and a shaved head and was wearing a grey hoodie and blue jeans at the time of the incident.
The second man was described as Hispanic, about 26-27 years old, 6 feet 4 inches tall, 300 pounds, with long, black, slicked back hair. He was wearing baggy clothing at the time of the incident.
Anyone with information about the incident can contact UCPD at 310-825-1491 or leave an anonymous tip at 310-794-5824.
Compiled by Erin Donnelly, Bruin senior staff.