WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Justice announced Thursday that a Maryland man accused of impersonating as a federal officer and assaulting gay men in a Washington, D.C., park was indicted by a federal grand jury on hate crime charges.
Michael Thomas Pruden is accused of assaulting five men five separate times between 2018 to 2021 "with a chemical irritant" at Meridian Hill Park, the Justice Department said.
According to the indictment, the park is "informally known in the Washington, D.C. community as a meeting place for men seeking consensual sex with other men."
The Department of Justice said Pruden was indicted on five counts of assault on federal land, one count of impersonating a federal officer, and hate crimes sentencing enhancement alleging the 48-year-old "assaulted four of the victims because of their perceived sexual orientation."
According to the indictment, Pruden allegedly posed as a Parks police officer, shined a flashlight in their faces, then gave them "police-style directives" just before attacking the victims.
He was arrested Thursday in Norfolk, Virginia, officials said.
The department said Pruden faces a maximum sentence of 10 years for each assault count, which the hate crimes sentencing enhancement could increase, and a maximum sentence of three years for impersonating a federal officer.
