Inset: Manuel Ortiz (KLAS/YouTube). Background: Video played in court that allegedly shows Manuel Ortiz unleashing a sucker punch on a man he saw acting "lovey-dovey" with his boyfriend (KLAS/YouTube).
A Nevada man got his head "cracked open" after being sucker punched by a stranger for acting "lovey-dovey" with his boyfriend on the Las Vegas Strip, cops and witnesses say. The alleged hate crime attack sent the victim flying to the ground and knocked him out cold.
"They were holding hands, they were kissing, you know, minding their own business," a witness testified in court last week at Manuel Ortiz's arraignment, during which he was charged with battery resulting in substantial bodily harm motivated by hate for the 2023 incident.
"You're a f—t," Ortiz allegedly yelled at the victim, Juan Cortez, who was identified by local CBS affiliate KLAS after speaking at Ortiz's arraignment about what happened, along with his boyfriend Andre Rodriguez.
The two men were having a date night that included attending a Romeo Santos concert at T-Mobile Arena when they encountered Ortiz and two other individuals who were with him, according to KLAS.
"What a bunch of f—ts," Ortiz and the others allegedly told Cortez, according to his testimony at the arraignment. "I can't believe what this country's come to with these f—ts everywhere," Ortiz allegedly added.
Surveillance video shown in court allegedly shows Ortiz sucker punching Cortez moments after throwing a beer can at him and being confronted about it by Cortez and Rodriguez, per KLAS.
"All I remember, I was looking at my partner, seeing him go down, and I blacked out," Rodriguez recounted. "I was really scared," he said. "I was really scared that Juan was going to die."
The witness who testified said they saw Cortez "falling to the ground" and then "his head gets cracked open," according to KLAS. He had to be hospitalized after the alleged incident and received a blood transfusion, as well as stitches.
"I was terrified, you know, I didn't know why this was something that happened to us," Rodriguez said. "And I never thought that it would be something that happened here in Las Vegas."
A local police detective testified that he received a tip last year leading to the arrest of Ortiz and he was charged following an investigation. Ortiz's defense attorney insists that his alleged actions did not stem from hate and that Cortez started an altercation with Ortiz.
"No one said he was wearing a KKK shirt. There is no evidence, literally, of hate," lawyer Craig Mueller argued, according to KLAS.
"What was the motivation? Somebody said they heard 'f—t' being used, okay…The other guy came up and started cursing at a group of strangers and got hit exactly one time," Mueller said. "This isn't a hate crime. It's a guy who got drunk and decided to pick a fight with some strangers."
A jury trial is scheduled to take place on Aug. 3.
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