D.C. police investigating possible hate crime Posted at 09:18 AM ET, 01/15/2013 Two men walking in the Truxton Circle neighborhood of Northwest Washington on Sunday evening were struck during what D.C. police are investigating as a possible hate crime, according to a department spokesman. The incident occurred shortly after 6 p.m. at 3rd and Q streets Northwest, just south of Florida Avenue. Officer Araz Alali, a D.C. police spokesman, said two men and a woman approached two men and yelled derogatory statements at them, including some critical of homosexuals. Alali said one of the men struck a victim with a bicycle he was riding and then punched the two men in the face with a closed fist, all while screaming anti-gay remarks. Both victims declined medical help, police said. Descriptions of the attackers were vague, but one was a male between 17 and 19 years old and another was a young woman, police said. The attack gained attention after a report was posted on a neighborhood blog, POPville, with an account purportedly written by one of the victims. The D.C. police Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit is investigating. Crimes prosecuted as hate crimes can carry additional penalties.