Cops arrested one of the bikers who they say sparked a hell-on-wheels ordeal in upper Manhattan that ended with a mob beating and slashing a man in front of his wife and 2-year-old, and another motorcyclist turned himself in Tuesday.
As Christopher Cruz, 28, was awaiting arraignment on charges stemming from the attack on Alexian Lien, Allen Edwards, who was also involved in the assault, surrendered to police.
Cruz was riding with a swarm of motorcyclists when he swerved in front of Lien’s Range Rover on the Henry Hudson Parkway and stopped short, causing Lien, 33, to bump the biker’s back tire, police said.
Video taken by one of the sport-bikers taking part in the wild ride shows the group of motorcyclists then stopping and surrounding the SUV. They attacked the door and tires, cops say, and Lien peeled away, seriously injuring one of the bikers.
Cruz was charged with menacing, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child. He was expected to be arraigned Tuesday night.
Edwards, 42, of Queens, surrendered after police released a photo of him. He was being questioned Tuesday night.
Sources said Edwards was the biker shown in an online video pounding on the rear window of Lien’s Range Rover while another brute bashed in the driver’s-side window using his helmet.
Cops were still searching for other motorcyclists who dragged Lien out of the SUV and beat and slashed him. He received stitches for his wounds and was released.
Lien was not charged, angering relatives of biker Edwin Mieses, 32, of Lawrence, Mass., who had both legs broken when Lien ran him over trying escape the pack.
“You have to look at the totality of the circumstances and that’s what we’re doing,†said NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly, noting that Lien fled the attacking bikers in fear for his and his family’s safety.
Mieses’ mother, Yolando Santiago, said her son is “trying to hang on for dear life.â€
“They’re making the riders out to be bad people. They’re not,†Santiago insisted from her Lawrence home Tuesday.
Mieses’ wife, Dayana Mieses, told The News her husband is in a medically induced coma at St. Luke’s Hospital. “This man needs to know he hurt someone,†said she said of Lien.
The bikers were taking part in a ride loosely organized by a group called Hollywood Stuntz. Police arrested 15 bikers Sunday for incidents unrelated to the mob attack.
“We had over 200 calls just on Sunday about this particular group operating in a reckless manner,†Kelly said.
About 30 bikers caught up with Lien in Washington Heights. One biker so far has been charged with menacing, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and endangering the welfare of a child.
Police said Lien initially stopped after the accident, but several angry bikers began to bash his car with their helmets and slash his tires before he fled.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/cops-hunt-bikers-wanted-wild-upper-manhattan-attack-article-1.1472419