An NYPD detective and another man were found guilty Tuesday of assaulting a driver who they had chased after an altercation on the West Side Highway.
But the detective, Wojciech Braszczok, 34, and the other man, electrician Robert Sims, 36, were found not guilty of gang assault — the most serious charge — by Judge Maxwell Wiley.
The September 2013 beatdown became a national story after one of the bikers filmed the incident. The victim, Alexian Lien, was driving on the highway through the Upper West Side with his wife and 2-year-old daughter when he became surrounded by a large group of bikers after a “minor dispute,” according to the Times. After they surrounded his car, he accelerated and ran over one of the bikers, breaking the biker’s spine.
The bikers chased him down at 178th street, pulled him out of the car and began assaulting him. On video, Sims could be seen attempting to force Lien’s wife from the car and then stomping Lien. Detective Braszczok didn’t hit Lien, but he smashed the rear window during the beatdown. He has been “suspended pending termination,” according to the Times.
“He testified that he was only trying stop the car from fleeing an accident and that he did not know the other bikers would attack the driver. He maintained that he reflexively smashed the rear window with his hand after a projectile punched a softball-size hole in it — a projectile he thought had come from inside the car. In that moment, he said he became scared and a few seconds later fled on his motorcycle, seeing the crowd pummel Mr. Lien as he left.”
Nine other bikers have already pleaded guilty to second-degree assault.
The men are expected to be sentenced in August.
I’m still trying to figure out where the cops were on that September day. I mean aside from participating in the mayhem. There should be a federal probe into what they were doing, and whether they shirked their duty while all of this was unfolding.
This is not the first incident of lawlessness we have seen from the NYPD. The bar shooting on Amsterdam, the off duty cop that got into an argument on riverside and started shooting. Parking everywhere, while the regular citizen can’t even park for 1 minute. Talk on cell phones, while we get 5 points and hundreds of dollars in fines. The NYPD needs a major overhaul. They need the unqualified common thug cops disarmed and given a desk job. We the citizens are trapped between two evils. Side with the common criminals or the criminals that are paid to protect us.
I’m happy he was convicted and hope that any others who are/were prosecuted will be as well. I believe that “mob mentality” something which is more closely studied in basic Psychology 101, is one of the factors which was in play in this sad incident. That mentality is not only part of the dynamic in groups like bad bikers but cops often get caught up in it. I think we’ve seen that fairly evident in the news. People who make poor choices based on what the rest of the crowd is doing. Sad but true.
You make an excellent (albeit, an unfortunate) point; the wilding/pack mentality can result in some pretty awful things.
The judge was and is wrong. He has sent a message that police officers will not be held accountable for their actions in the same way civilians are. Of course it was a gang assualt. The video was clear.
The driver should sue the Detective, the electrician and the City of NY for millions. Had I ben surrounded by a menacing band of bikers like he was I would have done the same thing. Frightening stuff right out of Clockwork Orange.
Gosh, how come every comment above IGNORES this one sentence about the driver of the SUV: “After they surrounded his car, he accelerated and ran over one of the bikers, breaking the biker’s spine.”
The driver, in his LUXURY “Range Rover” (avg. price $40K – $55K according to CarMax) LEFT A PERSON PARALYZED FOR LIFE !!! He hit the biker and kept driving!
But no one above has faulted Mr. Fancy-Shmancy for provoking the mass assault but instead everyone relishes the idea of blaming a member of the NYPD! One commenter blames cops for “Parking everywhere, while the regular citizen can’t even park for 1 minute. Talk on cell phones, while we get 5 points and hundreds of dollars in fines.”
Yup! It’s open-season on police officers! Soon some, if they can stop yelling “No Justice No Peace” will start calling them “Pigs” again, as in the 70’s, when some police officers became so demoralized that they pulled slow-downs and ignored less urgent emergencies.
Hey, know what? You don’t like police? Okay, next time you need one try calling a gang member or one of the oh-so-hip super-liberal “It’s Our Streets!” protestors.
First of all, what does the price of his car have to do with this?
Anyway, I’m typically someone standing up for police, but not in this case. The bikers were completely in the wrong.
Why did the biker have his spine broken? Because he was standing in the middle of the highway, in front of a car, whose occupants were being threatened by his friends.
Should we all the gang in blue to run wild? NO! I don’t want to see them talking and driving, NO! They can’t park wherever they want when it is not an emergency. They can not shoot at citizens because their feelings were hurt. Any cop that so much as displays the slightest sign of a work slow-down should be thrown in jail. THE COPS WORK FOR US. Not the other way around. We let our cops literally get away with murder and whenever they mess up. They threaten work slow-downs. It is no surprise the Citizens are turning against them.
3 weeks ago on 93rd street. A brawl almost erupted between the police and residents because the police insist on treating everyone like a criminal. Whether you are a victim, witness, spectator. That behavior is turning around and biting them in the ass. Rightfully so, the NYPD is on track to be absorbed by the NY state police.
Re: “Rightfully so, the NYPD is on track to be absorbed by the NY state police.”
IF SO, LORD HELP NYC !!!
The LAST thing this city needs is a pack of all-white “Up-State” types with guns and badges who have NEVER lived in this city, PROBABLY hate it (as most upstate types do) and are totally unfamiliar with its beautiful diversity.
Even NYPD-haters like our Mayor or City Council Speaker would NEVER advocate for such a crazy idea.
Hopefully it is just a radical’s pipe-dream!
It’s okay, you are just not used to professional police officers. “All white?” What does that have to do with anything? Last time I checked being a cop is about qualifications. Not skin color, you racist bigot. Maybe that’s why the NYPD is so screwed. They are hiring more for the race quota then for qualifications. LORD HELP NYC with people like you living here.
ScooterStan, what you are ignoring is that the driver was surrounded by a moving pack of motorcyclists who attempted to crowd him to slow down. The “victim” brake-checked the SUV and the group forced all the traffic to a stop. In a panic the driver of the SUV rolled through the mob. Here’s the original video to remind you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ukdkgLYYbw
My sympathies are usually with motorcyclists (I am one) but not here.