Pittsburgh man says he was attacked by his neighbors over his sexuality, police investigating

PITTSBURGH — A North Side man said his neighbors attacked him, first calling him homophobic slurs before they allegedly threw a brick at him.

The brick hit me here, so this bone is bruised,” said Micheal Albertini.

Micheal Albertini shared pictures with Channel 11 News immediately following the attack. In the pictures, Albertini wears a neck brace, and you can see visible bruises on his arms and legs, injuries police said happened when the couple who lives next door attacked him during a homophobic tirade.

“She starts throwing punches then he starts throwing punches, and the next thing I remember is laying fast down in the gravel,” Albertini explained.

Albertini, a North Side resident said he’s lived in the neighborhood for several years but recently moved to this street.

“It’s a very tight-knit loving community other than the bad apples,” he shared.

The bad apples he is referring to are his neighbors Patrick and Lisa Miller. Albertini told Channel 11 News the couple charged at him last Tuesday, screaming a homophobic slur before they hit him with a brick and began throwing repeated blows.

The Millers were arrested, and Patrick was charged with aggravated assault, a felony. Lisa Miller was charged with several misdemeanors including harassment. Albertini said that’s a start but wants to see the couple charged with a hate crime.

“That’s extremely upsetting because you would consider throwing a brick at someone and hurling all those slurs to be a hate crime,” Albertini said.

We reached out to the district attorney’s office to see if more charges were forthcoming and learned that the state’s current statute does not protect sexual orientation.

Pennsylvania does not have a ‘hate crime’ statute. The Ethnic Intimidation statute (18 Pa.C.S.A. 2710) covers threats, and intimidation ‘toward the race, color, religion or national origin of another’. Sexual orientation is not included and would require the PA legislature to amend the statute.

“There is no place for hate and violence like that,” Albertini said.

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