Family In SUV Attacked By Bikers After Chase In New York

A gang of two dozen motorcyclists bashed in the window of an SUV and pummeled its driver in front of his wife and 2-year-old daughter after a harrowing chase in upper Manhattan Sunday afternoon, cops said.

The driver of a black Range Rover was going northbound on the Henry Hudson Parkway near 125th Street about 2 p.m. when he was swarmed by dozens of motorcyclists, according to cops and a dramatic 6-minute video taken by one of the motorcyclists with a helmet camera.

The 33-year-old SUV driver, whose identity was not released, rear-ended one of the motorcycle riders, sparking a round of anger from fellow riders who surrounded the SUV and slashed its tires, an NYPD spokeswoman said.

The driver hit the gas, plowing into three other motorcyclists in the process, police added. The video shows the SUV bucking as it plowed over the machines and kept driving.

The motorcyclists gave chase — tracking the driver on a winding route up the Henry Hudson and onto the exit to the George Washington Bridge, where one biker yanked open the driver’s door to the SUV before the driver took off again, according to the video.

Sources said the SUV driver called 911 from inside his vehicle and told cops he was surrounded by motorcyclists who were driving erratically.

The bikers finally cornered the SUV after it got caught in traffic on 178th Street near St. Nicholas Avenue, according to cops and the FDNY.

A motorcyclist can be seen on the video pulling off his own helmet and repeatedly slamming it against the driver’s side window while other bikers surround him and begin to do the same before the video cuts off abruptly.

Cops said the bikers smashed open the SUV window and pulled the driver out before slashing him in the face in front of his terrified family.

The SUV driver, who lives in Manhattan, was treated at Columbia Presbyterian for two black eyes and given several stitches, sources said.

There have been no arrests so far in connection with the attack on the SUV driver. The driver of the SUV has also not been charged in connection to the incident, sources said.
Longtime Harlem resident Barri Anne Brown said she saw a large group of motorcyclists riding throughout the neighborhood Sunday afternoon.

“You could tell they were trying to antagonize people who were driving. They were getting inches away from other drivers,” Brown said. “Some were raising up their fists.”

Bronx and upper Manhattan residents have long complained about groups of motorcycle riders who they say are loud and reckless.

Posted in Mark Truppner.