Attack called hate crime

A Latino man was attacked and stabbed to death just before midnight Saturday on Long Island by a gang of seven white teens who have been charged in what authorities say is a hate crime.

Police say they quickly rounded up the 16- and 17-year-old boys, who live in East Patchogue and Medford, and charged them with first-degree gang assault. One was charged with manslaughter as a hate crime. The teens are scheduled to be arraigned today.

Suffolk County police officers, responding to an emergency call, found Marcello Lucero, 37, stabbed in the chest near a train station in Patchogue. A friend who was with Lucero when the attack occurred escaped unharmed and called police.