Attack on Gay Texan Linked to Social Networking App

Arron Keahey says he was beaten by a man he met via the MeetMe app.

A young gay Texan was brutally beaten by a man he met via a social networking phone app called MeetMe, a San Antonio TV station reports.

Arron Keahey, 24, of Springtown, a community near Fort Worth, went to meet the man in person about an hour after contacting him via the app, believing the man was gay or bisexual, station KENS reported Monday. The encounter occurred Labor Day.

Keahey told police and the media that when he arrived at the home of 18-year-old Brice Johnson, Johnson began attacking him almost immediately. "He started getting all frustrated and talking all angrily," Keahey told KENS. "I don't remember anything after that."

Keahey, however, emerged with injuries including broken facial bones, which required surgical repair, and nerve damage. He also had several teeth knocked out.

Johnson called Springtown police and told them he had found Keahey in the trunk of a car parked outside his home and had taken him to be treated for his injuries. The police later arrested Johnson, though, and he is charged with aggravated assault, causing serious bodily injury. He says he does not recall attacking Keahey.

Police are investigating the assault as a possible hate crime. "I've been up here altogether 10 years, and this is the first hate crime or possible hate crime that I've investigated," said Lt. Curtis Stone of the Springtown police.

Watch the KENS report below.