WEST HOLLYWOOD : 3 Suspects Held in Assault and Threats Against 3 Transvestites

A recent assault on three male transvestites in West Hollywood was stopped by a sheriff’s deputy when he arrived in time to see the incident and arrest the suspected attackers, authorities said.

A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy was driving by the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Poinsettia Drive at 2:50 a.m. on Saturday, when he saw two men and a woman yelling obscenities at the transvestites, said sheriff’s detective Dave Winkler.

As the deputy approached, Winkler said, one of the two male suspects threw a porcelain bowl at the victims, the bowl shattering around the three men. The suspects saw the deputy and quickly drove away, Winkler said.

The deputy went in pursuit, and with the aid of other officers, the suspects were captured when they drove down a dead-end street, he said.

Gustavo Solis, 19; Marlon Gomez, 20, and Kelli West, 18, all of Los Angeles, were arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and making terrorist threats, a felony charge that includes gay bashing.

Winkler, who investigates crimes targeting homosexuals, said last week’s incident was the second gay bashing to occur in West Hollywood in less than a month.

On Jan. 14, two men hit another man in the face with an egg, and later beat him with a tennis racquet, Winkler said. West Hollywood, an area known for its gay bars and male prostitutes, has a gay-bashing incident reported every month or two, he said.