The wife of the SUV driver involved in a high-profile New York City highway dispute with a biker mob — the YouTube video has 6 million hits — says her husband was facing life-threatening danger when he ran over one of the motorcyclists.
He was “placed in grave danger by a mob of reckless and violent motorcyclists,” she said through a law firm that’s representing her husband. He was “forced under the circumstances to take the actions that he did in order to protect the lives of our entire family,” Alexian Lien added in an NBC report. “We know in our hearts that we could not have done anything differently.”
The motorcycle rider they ran over, Edwin “Jay” Mieses, is in critical condition with a crushed spine and a diagnosis of potentially lifetime paralysis in his legs. Mr. Mieses has hired nationally recognized attorney Gloria Allred to sue.
His wife, Dayana Mieses, said during a Tuesday press conference that “there’s no hope for his back. They broke it in two different places, so he will be forever, forever paralyzed.”
The highway incident took place on Sunday. Police say the bikers chased Mr. Lien’s SUV for 50 blocks, cornered him in traffic, smashed his windows and pulled him from the vehicle. They then beat him in front of his wife and 2-year-old child.
Mrs. Lien said that the Mieses family has their sympathies but that “our fear for our lives was confirmed when the incident ended with the ruthless and brutal attack on my husband, me and most importantly, our 2-year-old child.”
She also said in the NBC report: “Our plan last Sunday was to celebrate our wedding anniversary by having a nice family day out. … Unfortunately, instead, we were placed in grave danger by a mob of reckless and violent motorcyclists.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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