October 20, 2010 - Courier-Journal

Two burglaries with identical patterns of vandalism committed against homeowners who are homosexual have many local activists believing that the acts should be viewed as hate crimes.

Police are not currently investigating the break-ins — which occurred in Germantown and the Highlands — as hate crimes because the types of vandalism did not necessarily indicate that homosexual couples were targeted, said Maj. Steve Green, division commander for Louisville Metro Police’s fourth division.

Green said only after the suspects are caught and questioned could the incidents be labeled as hate crimes and that distinction has to be made by the commonwealth attorney’s office.

Chris Hartman, director of the Fairness Campaign, acknowledges that the break-ins have not been determined to be hate crimes, but he believes that the homes were targeted because of the homeowners’ sexual orientations.

The Fairness Campaign is a group that advocates equal treatment for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals throughout Louisville.

“Two homes were broken into and vandalized in a really egregious way creating a pattern that we believe points to potential crimes of prejudice against gay couples in these neighborhoods,” Hartman said Wednesday morning in front of one of the homes on Winter Avenue.

In both burglaries, the homes were vandalized with bleach, toilet bowl cleaner and liquid food items used to ruin furniture, clothing and electronics.

Bob Cundiff, who lives on Winter with his partner, said he found his home to be “ransacked… a total mess” and smelling of bleach after the break-in.

“It’s hard to leave home (now), because you hate to think what you might come home to,” Cundiff said.

He said it appeared the only thing taken in the incident was pain medication.

Hartman, Green and Cundiff were joined by local and state leaders for Wednesday’s meeting as a show of support for the gay community.

“More and more people need to stand together to let them (the perpetrators) know we will not tolerate this kind of activity,” said Metro Councilman David Tandy, D-4th District.

State Rep. Jim Wayne, a Democrat whose district covers the neighborhoods hit by the burglaries, said at the press conference that he understands there is large population of gay individuals in those areas and if people were more accepting of those lifestyles then such crimes could be avoided.

“What happened here certainly points to the fact that it could be a hate crime…the way it was done... all indicates that this was something targeting a homosexual couple,” he said.

Green acknowledged that there has been a recent uptick in break-ins in those neighborhoods and investigators have looked at several regional burglaries for similarities to the two cases involving the gay couples, but they have not found any burglaries with identical types of vandalism committed against heterosexual couples.

Police have no suspects and Green asked that anyone with information to call the anonymous police tip line at 574-LMPD.