AUSTIN, Texas — Dee Frazier and David Casto have been dating for almost a year. Early Sunday morning, a little after 2 a.m., they were sitting outside the bus stop near Sixth Street and Congress Avenue when Frazier said he put his head on Casto's shoulder. That's when they say a group of several guys approached them.
"One of them decided to, you know, basically just call us a homophobic slur, and Dee decided to get up and be like, 'What did you say?' And him being 6 foot, 9 [inches], they, I guess thought that was aggressive," Casto said.
The couple said the altercation turned into a fight that left both of them thrown onto the ground by the group.
"One of them was punching me undercut-style on my ribs and holding me back. And then all I remember was looking over and seeing my boyfriend, the terror in his eyes because he was being held over by two guys too," Frazier said. "I managed to wrestle myself away and grab David and pulled him back, and they were still trying to fight and whatever. Then David ran on the bus and was screaming at me, 'Dee, get on the bus.'"
"Dee was visibly shaken up. He was crying on the bus. I was trying to support him," Casto said.
The couple told KVUE the attack stopped when the bus came and they jumped on board to get away. They called EMS and police once they got home. The couple said they were left scraped, swollen and sore.
"I dislocated my pinky, so it's still a nice purple. And then Dee, he had a little bit worse as far as the scrapes go," Casto said.
"My ribs are extremely sore on both sides, and it's kind of hard to breathe," Frazier said.
KVUE reached out to the Austin Police Department for more information about the case and the circumstances surrounding the incident. All the department would confirm is officers received a disturbance call and they are taking a "holistic approach" to their investigation, including reviewing if this is a bias-motivated crime.
"I just never really thought that would ever happen in a place like this," Casto said.
APD said this incident is currently being investigated and to protect the integrity of the investigation, the department has no further information to provide at this time.