Ex-Marine Arrested in Long Beach Gay Bar Attack

A former Marine is expected to be returned next week from Illinois on charges stemming from an alleged attack on two men outside a gay bar in Long Beach last September, the District Attorney's Office said today.

John Kelly O'Leary, 21, was arrested Monday night by police in Evergreen Park, Ill., according to Deputy District Attorney Gretchen Ford. O'Leary, being held on $105,000 bail, waived extradition to California. He is charged with one felony count each of battery with serious bodily injury and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury.

The criminal complaint alleges that the attack was a hate crime. O'Leary allegedly went to the Silver Fox bar on Redondo Avenue with several friends in the early morning hours of Sept. 3 and began shouting anti- gay slurs outside the business at closing time, authorities said.

After a verbal exchange with one of the two alleged victims, O'Leary allegedly punched one man while continuing to shout anti-gay slurs, according to the District Attorney's Office. The man -- who was knocked unconscious -- suffered a concussion and a fractured hip, authorities said.

As others tried to break up the altercation, O'Leary allegedly began punching and choking a second man before police arrived, according to the District Attorney's Office. O'Leary -- who was 20 at the time of the alleged crime -- is facing up to eight years in state prison if convicted, according to the District Attorney's Office. Three other Marines who were arrested along with O'Leary shortly after the attack were not charged, according to the District Attorney's Office.