3 teenagers charged in beating

Three Lowell teenagers are scheduled to be arraigned this morning , charged in an alleged gay-bashing in which a man was taunted and beaten, according to Lowell police and the Middlesex district attorney's office.

The alleged assailants saw the man in a residential neighborhood at about 3 a.m. on Friday, and used anti gay slurs before beating him, authorities said.

"We don't want you in our neighborhood," one of the accused allegedly called out to the man.

The three men, Jonathan Artis , Jeffrey Buchanan, and Jules Rugges , all age 19, face three charges: violation of constitutional rights with bodily injury, assault and battery, and mayhem.

The victim, whose identity was withheld by authorities, went to police after the beating to describe his assailants. A short time later, police arrested three men fitting the description.

"We take our responsibility to protect citizens' rights and liberties extremely seriously," said Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. "To the extent that hatred of any kind is a motivation to target a particular person or group, we place a high priority on prosecuting those defendants and sending a strong message that that type of hatred will not be tolerated."