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The Marines, men who are stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, were charged with misdemeanor battery in connection with the beating of a 26-year-old Savannah man, an assault that occurred at about 3:45 a.m. near the intersection of Congress and Bull streets in Savannah, according to Gena Moore, a Savannah-Chatham Metro Police spokeswoman.
The man was taken by ambulance to Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah, according to the report. Information about his condition was not available Sunday night.
The Beaufort Gazette does not typically name suspects who have been charged with misdemeanor crimes or victims of misdemeanors.
The Marines were taken to the Chatham County Jail. Their bond was set at $1,850, according to the jail log.
The two men were released from the jail later Saturday to an Army unit commander from Hunter Army Airfield, who then called their Marine unit commanders in Beaufort, said Gunnery Sgt. Chad McMeen, an air station spokesman. Both men have been placed on barracks restriction until this morning, when their commanding officers will decide what steps to take next, he said.
They face charges in Chatham County as well as possible military non-judicial punishments, McMeen said. If military police deem the crime as serious or if the charges in Georgia are elevated, the two also could face court martial, he said.
The men are assigned to two different Marine fighter attack squadrons at the base, McMeen said. He did not immediately know their rank, enlistment information or where they are from, he said.
THE INCIDENT
At 3:45 a.m., a metro police officer was on patrol near the intersection of Broughton and Barnard streets when he saw two men running on Congress Lane. Before he could find them, he received a call from dispatch about a man at Congress and Bull streets who was unconscious on the ground, according to the Savannah-Chatham Metro Police report.
The officer found a 26-year-old man motionless on the ground with one of his friends performing "chest rubs," the report said.
Witnesses told the officer the man had been "knocked out"by two white males matching the description of the two subjects who had been running down Congress Lane, according to the report.
When the officer caught up with them in a fenced-in, dark, empty lot between two buildings on Barnard Street, they told him they "were being harassed by a white homosexual male earlier in the evening and just wanted to get away," the report said.
But witnesses said the two men were the aggressors in the incident, according to the report.
Friends of the injured man said they were walking on Congress Street when they ran into the two subjects around Whitaker Street. They said the group was eating pizza and "joking around" when one of the two men got upset because he found out the man was gay, the report said.
Witnesses said one of the men followed the gay man, who was ahead of the group, according to the report.
That's when one of the men thought the gay man winked at him. He grew angry and then struck the gay man in the back of the head with his fist, knocking him to the ground, the report said.
"Apparently, he became enraged and punched him," said police spokeswoman Moore.
A witness turned and saw one of the men standing over the injured man as he lay on the ground unconscious, according to the report. The two men took off and ran west on Congress Street.
The Marines were arrested and charged with battery, according to the report.
Moore said the incident is being monitored by the department's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender liaison. She said Georgia does not have a state statute governing hate crimes.
"The reason that this is different from any other downtown brawl is because the victim feels he's been a victim of a hate crime," she said.
