Victim in homophobic attack seeks pepper spray

Says he worries with 1 suspect out on bail, 3 at large

He does not want to get a handgun, but a Boston man who was among four people victimized in what authorities say was a homophobic attack wants to start carrying pepper spray.

"I'm very, very nervous," said Jeff, who asked that his last name not be published. "I am going to be very cautious."

Jeff was interviewed yesterday hours after a Framingham man pleaded not guilty to four counts of civil rights violations and multiple counts of assault and battery for his alleged role in the Aug. 24 attack in the South End.

Fabio Brandao, 29, was freed after posting $10,000 cash bail set by Boston Municipal Court Judge Eleanor C. Sinnott. The judge also barred Brandao from the South End and imposed a 10 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew, despite his lawyer's contention that the former chimney sweep is unemployed and needs to look for work in the nighttime.

Brandao was linked to the violence through a license plate called into police by Jeff and through the recovery of Brandao's cellphone at the scene, according to Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Vincent J. DeMore III and a police report that was filed in court.

But the Framingham man's defense attorney downplayed the connections. "That may very well put him at the scene, but that by no means establishes participation," Francis W. Doran Jr. said in court.

According to Jeff and police, Jeff, two male friends, and a female friend from Jamaica Plain were walking in the 300 block of Columbus Avenue when they passed a parked white car.

Men inside the car allegedly shouted homophobic phrases, attacked the two men, and then knocked the woman to the ground when she tried to calm the situation.

Jeff's two friends suffered head and scalp injuries and were treated at Boston hospitals. But they do not remember what happened to them, according to Jeff and the police report.

At the time of the assault, Jeff and the woman called police and reported the license plate number, which police said is registered to Brandao. According to a report filed in court, Brandao acknowledged that he was in the South End, but said he was there with his wife and two friends. He then invoked his right against self-incrimination.

Brandao's lawyer said his client is married and the father of a 9-year-old. He emigrated from Brazil and is now a naturalized American citizen, Doran said. He said his client does not have a history of violence.

Jeff said he will ask police how he can legally carry pepper spray. He said he is worried because Brandao is out on bail and three suspects are still at large.

"It makes me feel unsafe," he said.

Brandao is due back in court Oct. 10.

John Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com.