FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Oleh Alex Makarenko is a free man.
Just days before he was set to stand trial, alongside with his mother, after his Ukrainian family was accused of beating a gay man so badly that it left the man blind, Broward County prosecutors dropped all charges.
“It’s still tough,” Makarenko said in an interview with Local 10 News on Wednesday. “I don’t think I have the relief yet.”
Five members of the Makarenko family had been implicated in the alleged homophobic beating in Pompano Beach. Authorities had accused them of beating the alleged victim after finding out that he had been in a same-sex relationship with one of the suspects, Oleh Makarenko, then 21.
Also charged were Inna Makarenko, Yevhen Makarenko, Pavel Makarenko and Vladyslav Makarenko. They steadfastly maintained their innocence.
“If I get in to details how hard this was for everybody we are not going to get it in one short interview,” Oleh Makarenko said. “Rumors will remain rumors. They don’t bother me nearly as much as what my family has been accused of.”
The victim originally told authorities that he fell at his Pompano Beach home on Aug. 6, 2021. He implicated the family six months later.
The state argued that he changed his story because he was afraid.
“I think we all know the alleged victim isn’t the most credible source of information,” Oleh Makarenko said Wednesday.
Prosecutors later dropped the case against Vladyslav Makarenko after defense attorneys provided evidence that he was out of the town at the time of the alleged beating.
In a closeout memo detailing their decision to drop the entire case, prosecutors wrote, “The primary issue that has arisen in this case is the lack of evidence and identification of the alleged attackers. Officers who first responded to the scene were suspicious that the victim was not being truthful in what happened to him.”
“You know we say innocent until proven guilty,” Oleh Makarenko said. “It’s the other way around.”
Each family member spent about five months behind bars. They now say they want to move on with their lives.