Re: CHAOS ON THE WEST SIDE HIGHWAY: Wild pack of motorcycling madmen chase family in
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Bikers Speak Out On Road Rage Incident: "We're The Victims"
The controversy over the road rage incident among some motorcycle riders
and an SUV driver is growing. Two bikers are under arrest, and now
other bikers involved say the range rover driver must share part of the
blame.
I spoke to some of them in an exclusive interview inside a biker club headquarters.
Edwin
Mieses of Boston lies in intensive care at St. Luke's Roosevelt
Hospital with serious spinal injuries and two broken legs. Fellow riders
say he is the biker who is seen in the video being run over by the
Range Rover.
It all started when one rider -- identified as
Christopher Cruz, who is under arrest -- slowed down and was allegedly
tapped by the SUV.
Berger "Choppa" Matthew, a construction
worker, was there. He said he is the one seen in the video trying to
open the door of the SUV. He said what began as an accident turned into
road rage -- on the part of the SUV driver. Matthews said they were
worried the driver would hit someone else, so they chased him up one of
New York City's busiest highways. Matthews said he ran up to the door
and wanted to pull out the keys so no one else would be hit.
The video shows the Range Rover drive off and knock another rider off his bike. That biker asked Fox 5 to protect his identity.
"As
he took off, he hit me and just kept on going," that biker said. "Once
he hit me off my bike I got angry and I chased after him."
Moments
later, the rider who was knocked off his motorcycle by the range rover
confronted the driver and hit the window with his helmet.
"Two
minutes prior to that this guy almost took my life from me and I'm the
aggressor because I smashed the window," he said, adding that he sped
off when the video cuts off and did not strike the driver.
Police
Commissioner Ray Kelly would not say for sure if the Range Rover
driver, Alexian Lien, who had his wife and infant in the SUV with him,
would be charged. He said it depends on the circumstances and whether
Lien was being attacked and believed he was acting out of fear for his
life and the lives of his family.
Kelly said most motorcycle
riders abide by the rules of the road. But he also said the police
received more than 200 calls to 911 about this particular group of
riders, who came from all over the country.