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Investigate Bay Area Rape, Theft as Possible Hate Crime

Police are investigating a brutal crime in which a woman was jumped by four men, taunted for being a lesbian, and repeatedly raped, then left naked outside of an abandoned apartment building in the San Francisco Bay area.


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Police are investigating a brutal crime in which a woman was jumped by four men, taunted for being a lesbian, and repeatedly raped, then left naked outside of an abandoned apartment building in the San Francisco Bay area.

The woman was attacked on December 13 after she stepped out of her car, which had a rainbow bumper sticker, according to the Associated Press.

"It just pushes it beyond fathomable," Richmond police lieutenant Mark Gagan said to reporters. "The level of trauma -- physical and emotional -- this victim has suffered is extreme."

One of the men reportedly approached the 28-year-old woman as she crossed the street, hit her with a blunt object, forced her to remove her clothing, and then, along with three others, raped her for 45 minutes.

When the men saw another person approaching, they forced her into her car and took her to a burned-out building, where she was raped again. They left her naked on the street, taking her car and her wallet. She sought help from a nearby resident, who took her to be examined at a hospital. Her car was found abandoned two days later.

The woman said she did not know the men, but two of them answered to the names "Blue" and "Pato." She estimated their ages ranging from late teens to about 30. Richmond police are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest.

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Hate crimes have been on the rise nationally. There were 1,460 hate crimes in 2007, according to the FBI, an increase of 45 such crimes over 2006. In both years, 16% of hate crimes targeted people based on their sexual orientation. (Michelle Garcia, Advocate.com)

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