A Fairpark-area man was assaulted Thursday by eight teens who hit him with sticks.
Salt Lake police are investigating the assault as a possible hate crime.The 42-year-old man was sitting alone about 11:15 p.m. at a lookout over Memory Grove, near A Street and Eighth Avenue, when a group of teens approached him.
The group came up a path from Memory Grove, and several of them were carrying sticks, a Salt Lake police report states. One of the teens asked, "Are you a faggot?" and then struck the man with his stick.
Other teens began to hit the man with their fists and continued to push him until he fell down several stairs, according to the report. Witnesses saw the teens flee in an older Ford pickup truck.
Police said the victim received cuts to the back of his head that will require stitches, and the man may also have a fractured wrist.