A man sprayed gay men with chemicals while he pretended to be a police officer in a park in Washington, D.C., federal prosecutors say.
Michael Thomas Pruden, 48, targeted gay men to assault, shining flashlights in his victims’ faces and giving them “police-style directives” before spraying them with a chemical irritant, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
Pruden found his victims in Meridian Hill Park, also known as Malcom X Park, a National Historic Landmark designated area that is informally known as a common place for men to seek male sexual partners, the release says. Pruden went to the park on five nights between 2018 and 2021.
Authorities arrested Pruden on July 14 in Norfolk, the release says.
A federal grand jury indicted him on five counts of assault on federal land and one count of impersonating a federal officer. Prosecutors say he assaulted four of his victims because of their sexual orientation.
He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each assault count and three years for impersonating a federal officer, prosecutors say. Four of the assault counts carry a hate crimes sentencing enhancement, meaning if they are found to be hate crimes, he faces a longer prison sentence for each count.
No attorney for Pruden was listed.
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