Two Gay Tourists Attacked in the Caribbean

April 11, 2006— -- PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten (AP) -- Police have appealed to the public for help in the investigation into an attack on two New York journalists, who were beaten with tire irons outside a bar on the Dutch side of Saint Maarten island. Investigators in Saint Maarten published a newspaper advertisement Monday seeking witnesses or other information about the attack, which left the two Americans with serious head injuries.

Fifty-one-year-old Dick Jefferson and 25-year-old Ryan Smith, who work for CBS, were outside a bar with several friends early Thursday when three men attacked them and started hitting them with tire irons.

Jefferson, a senior broadcast producer for CBS' national evening news, said the attackers yelled anti-gay slurs at his friends earlier in the evening.

Both victims were flown to Miami for medical treatment.

Jefferson says Smith is in intensive care and may have suffered brain damage. Jefferson was treated and released Sunday.

Jefferson faulted Saint Maarten authorities for not collecting witness testimony on the night of the crime or pursuing other leads.

Saint Maarten is a popular Caribbean tourist destination shared by France and the Netherlands.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)