A deaf man's attackers gouged his eyes with a broken bottle after apparently mistaking his sign language for gang signs or obscene gestures, police said.
Latell Chaney, 20, lost eyesight in one eye. Doctors said they don't know if his other eye can be saved.Police charged two men with second-degree assault in the attack and were still looking Saturday for three other suspects.
The five saw Chaney at a bus stop Sunday night. They stopped their car and said something to him, Police Sgt. Robert Tichich said.
"They didn't know each other." Tichich said. "Even one of the arrested suspects said that. But the other guys apparently misinterpreted what was going on. They didn't know he was deaf. They probably took his gestures for gang signs or something."
Chaney eluded them and got on a bus. The men drove ahead to another bus stop, paid their fares and boarded the bus, Tichich said.
One of the assailants broke a beer bottle over Chaney's head, then gouged his eyes with the jagged edge, he said.