As one motorcyclist lingers in a medically-induced coma after Sunday's violent clash between a group of dirt bikers and an SUV driver, more participants in the group ride are demanding that the motorist face charges. Today celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred is holding a big press conference on behalf of her client Edwin Mieses, who was critically injured when driver Alexian Lien ran him over in an attempt to flee. And now another biker who was at the scene says Lien started the whole thing.
Michael Anthony, a dirt bike enthusiast from Pennsylvania, claims that before the video clip starts, Lien tried to drive through the group of bikers, who may have been trying to block off car traffic on the Henry Hudson Highway to make room for their stunts. "The SUV didn’t wanna wait,” Anthony told PIX11. “He decided he wanted to come into the center lane and started pushing his way through the center lane, through the bikes."
Anthony says that before the video clip begins, Lien rammed another biker and knocked him off his motorcycle. "Nobody was threatening him, he was impatient," Anthony told PIX11. "99% of the drivers that we encountered that day were impatient, they were upset…but they didn’t take it to the next level and use their vehicle as a battering ram to get where they needed to be because they didn’t wanna be surrounded by bikes."
After the group of bike riders surrounded his vehicle, Lien accelerated suddenly, running over Mieses and two other motorcyclists. A high-speed chase ensued, and Lien was eventually cornered in Washington Heights, where he was dragged from the car and beaten in front of his wife and 2-year-old daughter. The family finally broke their silence yesterday, when Lien’s wife, Rosalyn Ng, issued a statement saying, "We were faced with a life-threatening situation, and my husband was forced under the circumstances to take the actions he did in order to protect the lives of our entire family."
It's unclear if Lien will face charges—the NYPD says the investigation is ongoing. But a former NYPD sergeant told the Times this week that it appears Lien was acting in self-defense. "You have the right to defend yourself, by hook or by crook," said Manuel Gomez, who is also a former FBI agent.
The Manhattan DA is already prosecuting one motorcyclist, Christopher Cruz, 28, whose collision with Lien escalated the confrontation that was caught on video. A second biker who was seen on video after Lien was stopped in Washington Heights was arrested but will not be prosecuted—the DA's office believes the NYPD charged him prematurely. However, ABC 7 reports that the motorcyclist seen in the video smashing Lien's window with his helmet is expected to turn himself in today.
