Re: CHAOS ON THE WEST SIDE HIGHWAY: Wild pack of motorcycling madmen chase family in
2nd biker surrenders in Henry Hudson Parkway chase; no charges filed
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Eyewitness News
NEW YORK (WABC) -- A motorcyclist has been arraigned on charges of reckless driving after prosecutors said he touched off a tense encounter with the driver of an SUV and a throng of other bikers that ended in a violent confrontation in Manhattan.
Christopher Cruz, 28, of Passaic, N.J., was also charged with unlawful imprisonment. His bail was set at $1,500 cash. His attorney, H. Benjamin Perez, said his client denied all the allegations.
"He will come back to fight this case and clear his name," he said.
A second suspect, Allen Edwards, 42, of Jamaica, Queens, surrendered to police at the 33rd Precinct Tuesday night. It is believed he is the man who punched the rear window of the SUV with his fists at the end of the video.
He had been held and questioned overnight, and police initially said he would be charged with reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and menacing. But the office declined to prosecute at this time, pending further investigation of the entire incident.
Prosecutors served notice that they intend to take the case against Cruz to a grand jury - a sign that more serious charges are likely.
Karen Friedman-Agnifilo, the prosecutor overseeing the case, said authorities were trying to build the strongest cases possible.
"Prematurely charging individuals with low-level crimes does not further the goals of the investigation, and could weaken the cases we expect to bring against the perpetrators of serious crimes," she said.
Cruz is believed to be the motorcyclist who cut off the Range Rover before he was rear-ended in the crash that started the incident.
The SUV driver, Alexian Lien, 33, bowled over the bikers and their motorcycles after the initial accidet. While the rest of the group gave chase, one of them recorded the incident. The next stop was by the George Washington Bridge ramp, where one biker ripped open the car door, forcing Lien to flee again.
Eventually, the heart stopping chase ended up on 178th Street, where the Range Rover became trapped by traffic with the raging bikers right behind him. The video shows the bikers smashing in the windows, but stops short of the brutal assault that followed.
According to police, Lien was dragged out of the car and beaten in front of his horrified family. He was taken to a hospital where he needed stitches for his face. His wife and 2-year-old were not injured.
Meanwhile, the mother and wife of another biker left paralyzed are speaking out. Edwin Mieses, 32, suffered broken legs, rib fractures and spine injuries and is paralyzed.
"All his ribs, fractured," mom Yolanda Santiago said. "His lungs are so badly bruised."
Wife Dayana Mieses says her husband was only trying to help the fellow biker who was injured in the initial fender bender.
"Being bent over, helping this guy, is why he got crushed," Dayana Mieses said. ""His aortic valve detached from his heart when the accident happened. Eight out of 10 people don't survive that...but he did. He's a survivor. He's paralyzed from the waist down. His spine was broken in two different places, and there's no hope for that as well."
Mieses said she understands the family in the SUV was scared, but she doesn't believe they were in any danger.
"What they don't know about the bike life is that they're a family, they're not out there to hurt people," she said. "My husband has a heart of gold. He stopped to help the man get up because that's all they do for each other, help each other."
Still, she feels her husband is the victim in this case.
"If he would have stopped after he initially hit that one person and noticed people were trying to help, there was no need for him to take off," she said. "For them to follow him and try to yank him out there car, to take off again and keep on driving and get beat up. If he would have stopped the first time, he would have know they were there to help [Cruz], Because that's what people do. They help each other. Bikers aren't a gang. They're not in a gang."
She says blame lies with Lien, who she says profiled the bikers.
"He's not even charged, and he's the victim," she said. "How is he the victim, because he can walk? How is he the victim, because he can walk his daughter down the aisle. My husband can't do any of that anymore. So I blame him, and he needs to come forward. Because he has a lot of bills to pay. Because for the rest of my life and my husband's life, we're going to be paying bills that, on a job I have, I will not be able to make on my own."
Police are still searching for the man who used his helmet to bash the front window of the SUV. Authorities released a photo of the man, who has a flag sticker of "Guyana" on the rear of the motorcycle.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).