Member of family accused of brutally beating gay man says his loved ones are innocent
POMPANO BEACH – One of the members of a family accused of brutally beating a gay man says his loved ones are innocent of the horrific crimes.
Vladyslav or "Vlad" Makarenko says they are not violent people and claims he has no idea how his family got implicated in this.
His father, mother and brother are facing hate crime charges, as well attempted murder, battery, and kidnapping charges. Investigators say they beat a gay man in his Pompano Beach apartment last August to the point he became permanently blind.
"I really want police to find out who exactly did it, but I believe my family should be out of jail until they do that," says Makarenko, "Unless they have really strong evidence, which they don't have."
He was previously arrested for the alleged crimes and spent about three months in the Broward jail, before investigators ultimately confirmed he was in Alabama at the time and dropped all charges.
"They dropped charges against me because of my alibi," he says. "Obviously, the guy was lying about me. But they are still using his statement, obviously unreliable, to hold my parents and my brother in jail."
The alleged victim's name is being withheld due to Marsy's Law.
According to arrest forms, the 31-year-old victim told investigators he was in a romantic relationship with Vlad's younger brother Oleh Makarenko, and he told them the Makarenko family beat him when they found out about them.
"Just because someone, who you've never even met, said something about you, they are going to arrest you tomorrow and put you in jail for like, months. Not only you, but all of your family. How would you feel?" says Makarenko.
He says neither he, nor his parents, knew who this person was who accused them. Makarenko also has a twin brother and younger sister who, he says, had never heard of him either.
However, he acknowledges his brother Oleh did have some kind of relationship with this man, because of text messages between them. But he says he does not know the extent of that, adding that Oleh is engaged to a woman he has been with for two years.
Makarenko says does not know why this person named his family specifically, but he wants their names to be cleared.
"My brother is not a violent person. My mom is not a violent person. My dad is not a violent person," he says. "I really hope that our justice system will be improved so that stories like this, like my story, like my family's story, will never happen again."
His brother and father, Oleh and Yehven Makarenko, are now being held in an immigration facility in Miami. His mother, Inna, is in one in Jacksonville. She is scheduled to have a hearing regarding her asylum status August 5th.
They are originally from Ukraine and have lived in the United States about six years.