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Michael Thomas Pruden, 48, was arrested and charged for several assaults at a popular Washington, DC park, several of which were due to his victims’ perceived sexual orientation, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
Specifically, Pruden was charged by a federal grand jury of:
- Five counts of assault on federal land;
- Impersonating a federal officer;
- Hate crimes sentencing enhancement alleging that Pruden assaulted four of the victims because of their perceived sexual orientation.
The indictment handed down by the grand jury alleges that on five separate dates from 2018 to 2021, Pruden went after dark to Meridian Hill Park - also known as Malcolm X Park - which is "informally known in the Washington, DC community as a meeting place for men seeking consensual sex with other men," according to prosecutors.
During that time, it is alleged that Pruden assaulted five men with a chemical irritant.
Before spraying the men, Pruden allegedly pretended to be a Park Police officer, shined a flashlight in the victims’ faces, and gave the victims police-style directives, officials noted. The indictment further alleges that Pruden assaulted four of the victims because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation.
According to WUSA9, at the time he was arrested, Pruden was working as an elementary school teacher in Maryland.
Pruden was arrested in Norfolk, Virginia on Thursday, July 14.
He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years for each assault county and three years for impersonating a federal officer. Officials noted that the hate crimes sentencing enhancement increases the range of the potential sentence for the assault counts.
Anyone who believes they were a victim of, or witnessed, a similar assault in Meridian Hill Park, has been instructed to call the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).
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