Authorities with the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station are investigating two separate assaults that occurred last week in which the victims later claimed they were targeted because they were gay. Officials, however, are not calling the incidents hate crimes because the victims’ claims of what happened do not match the evidence or their initial reports to deputies.

“There were two incidents where apparently, after some investigating, the accounts don’t appear to be accurate,” said Lt. Lawrence Del Mese, with the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station.

The first incident, which involved a victim who was treated at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, occurred on Oct. 18 near the intersection of Santa Monica and Robertson Boulevard. The victim later claimed on an Internet posting that he was approached by a suspect who used a slur about his sexual identity and then physically assaulted him.

“The gentleman claimed he was the victim of a robbery, but had been contacted by deputies before going to Cedars Sinai because he was the subject of a call about an extremely intoxicated person, and he stated he fell,” Del Mese said. “After he was released, he alleged that he was robbed.”

The second incident occurred around 7:15 p.m. on Oct. 19 near the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Hayworth Avenue. According to Del Mese, deputies arrived and took a report from the victim, who had been physically assaulted. The victim later posted on Facebook that the incident occurred near Fountain and Laurel Avenues, and in the posting, the victim claimed he was the victim of a hate crime. Del Mese said one of the sergeants in the West Hollywood station’s detective unit was notified about the Internet posting, and investigators launched a thorough investigation.

“There were no threats made, and there was no evidence that fit the hate crime criteria,” Del Mese added. “I’m not saying anybody is lying, but it doesn’t match up. He called us, we responded. Deputies took a report and checked the area, and did not find any suspects. Apparently, social media and our reports are coming into conflict.”

Del Mese said there is specific criteria used to determine whether an attack is a hate crime, with one of the main things being whether slurs about the victim’s sexual identity are made, or whether there is actual evidence left at the scene to show that a suspect specifically targeted a victim because of their sexual identity. Del Mese added that detectives are in the process of re-interviewing the victims to clear up the discrepancies, and added that they are still searching for a suspect in the assault on Santa Monica Boulevard. Patrol deputies have been briefed about both incidents, but Del Mese reiterated that they do not believe either was a hate crime. He added that hate crimes are taken very seriously, but that such incidents are actually down 23 percent this year compared to the same time last year.

“I don’t know how that translates into actual numbers, but I know we are down,” Del Mese added. “I have not seen anything else like these assaults recently. We are as concerned as anybody about these incidents.”