Police hunting for suspect in hate-crime attack at SF BART station

A man was attacked at a San Francisco BART station Monday night by a suspect in a security uniform who used anti-gay slurs and punched him in the face, officials said. A man was attacked at a San Francisco BART station Monday night by a suspect in a security uniform who used anti-gay slurs and punched him in the face, officials said. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close Police hunting for suspect in hate-crime attack at SF BART station 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

Police are investigating a hate crime after a suspect dressed in a security uniform allegedly attacked a man at a BART station in San Francisco on Monday night and called him anti-gay slurs, officials said.

The incident occurred about 11:25 p.m. at the Powell Street BART station, police said.

The victim, whose name was not released, was standing on the train platform when the man walked up to him, shouted homophobic slurs at him and punched him in the face, police said.

As the victim went to the station agent’s booth to report the crime, the suspect fled on a Pittsburg/Bay Point train. Police stopped the train at the MacArthur BART station in Oakland, but were unable to find attacker.

The suspect was described as 5-feet-8, 135 pounds and was wearing a black security uniform with a silver badge on the right side.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani