Bikers attacked an SUV over the weekend in New York, and the confrontation and beating of the driver was captured on a helmet-mounted camera.
33-year old Alexian Lien was behind the wheel of the SUV with his wife and 2-year old daughter when a large group of bikers–reportedly calling themselves “Hollywood Stuntz”–surrounded the vehicle on the West Side Highway. Even with video, it’s unclear why the bikers surrounded the SUV, but at least one rider got in front of the SUV and slowed down so much that Lien was forced to stop. After a few moments, Lien can be seen bashing the cyclists out of the way–seemingly in a panic–and mowing down at least one of them in the process. He then took off down the highway and led the group of bikers on a chase that lasted several minutes, until traffic forced him to a stop in Washington Heights. The bikers then surrounded the SUV once again and began smashing windows with their helmets before dragging Lien out and beating him severely on the street. He was rushed to a nearby hospital and received stitches for slashes to the face and chest and is suffering with severe facial injuries. The biker he ran over, however, has required surgery and may be a paraplegic.
The group of bikers was supposed to attend an event in Times Square on Sunday– a rally for stunt drivers–but were turned away because of past problems with the event. Authorities say 15 bikers were arrested and several motorcycles were seized, but those were unrelated to the SUV incident.
“They drove down Broadway [with] over 1,000 motorcycles, dirt bikes, quads,” Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said. “So there was an intention to do that again this year, but because of [police] checkpoints and enforcement in the outer boroughs, they weren’t able to make it.”
Kelly says an investigation into the violent altercation is underway.
Image: YouTube