Suspect in Alleged Denver Anti-Gay Attack Turns Himself In

A suspect in the case of a hate crime beating of a Denver gay man turned himself in to the Denver police on Sept. 10, as reported by the Denver Police Department's Twitter page.

Tilo Sandoval, 20, is a suspect in the Sept. 2 beating of gay man Jared Olsen. He is being held on $30,000 bond and was expected to make his first court appearance on Sept. 12, according to The Latest Word.

In an interview given to Denver's ABC-affiliated television station KMGH , Olson, 23, said that he and two friends were assaulted by a man who was among a group hurling gay slurs at them in a parking lot as they left a hookah bar at 2 a.m.

Police had described the man as 5'9", 145 lbs., with "several prominent tattoos around his arms..." and was "wanted in association with... a violent Anti-Gay assault that occurred on Sept 2, 2013, at Alameda Avenue and Zuni Street."

According to ABC 7, he faces felony charges of assault causing injury, second-degree assault and bias-motivated crime.

Olson said the man followed him and his friends as they got into their car, pulled the door open to the back seat where Olsen and his friend, who is also gay, were sitting and then allegedly repeatedly punched Olson in the face and also assaulted his friend. The third friend who was in the driver's seat was not harmed.

"He kept asking 'What are you looking at?' and he walked to my door, pulled my door open, and hit me in the face," Olson told CBS Denver. "My clothes when I went to the hospital were covered in blood."

Olson was left with broken bones in his face, and several of his teeth were knocked out and chipped. He will have to undergo reconstructive surgery, which could cost up to $50,000. According to KMGH-TV, Olson does not have health insurance.

"I didn't think that I looked that bad, until my mother had taken the picture and shown me," Olson told the news station. "I didn't think it would ever happen to me. I thought people were more sensible than that in this day and age. I just remember looking over, and looking up at the guy and getting hit square in the face right here. And you can clearly tell my nose is like over here."

Olsen has received support from friends, who created the Facebook page, Justice for Jared, which as of press time received 3,289 likes and donations toward Olsen's recovery.

"I'm getting scheduled for a consultation for my surgery right now!" Olsen posted on his Facebook page. "Yayayayayayayay this is the first good news I've heard throughout this whole thing! I feel like a little kid on Christmas!"