Police in Maryland arrested two men accused of robbing and beating two transgender women in a hate-fueled attack at a convenience store early Monday morning.
Carlos Hernandez-Sanez, 18, and Edras Vasquez, 20, face multiple charges stemming from the confrontation, including robbery, second-degree assault, malicious destruction of property and harassment of a person based on race, religion or sexual orientation -- a hate crime.
Two transgender women, 36 and 44 years old, were confronted by Hernandez-Sanez and Vasquez after they stopped at a 7-Eleven store in Wheaton around 2:40 a.m. Monday, Montgomery County police said. As they tried to get into the store, the men used "disparaging sexual-orientation-based epithets" in Spanish.
The 36-year-old pulled out her cellphone and started recording the confrontation, police said. In response, one of the men threw a cup of noodles he was holding on the women. Both then grabbed at the 36-year-old's cellphone and started punching and kicking the women.
At one point, one of the men pushed the 36-year-old into the glass window in front of the store, cracking it.
The men got the woman's cellphone and fled from the area. They were later arrested.
Both women suffered minor injuries, according to police.
Hernandez-Sanez and Vasquez remained jailed in Montgomery County Monday afternoon. Hernandez-Sanez is being held on a $65,000 bond. Vasquez is being held on a $125,000 bond.
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