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| FILE - In this Oct. 5, 2013 file photo,The Range Rover involved in the bikers attack is moved from the police precinct for further police investigation in New York. An off-duty New York Police Department undercover detective apparently seen on video pounding on an SUV during a melee with motorcyclists has been arrested, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013. |
NEW YORK (AP)
-- An undercover detective who investigators said was off duty when he
was recorded on video pounding on an SUV as a biker rally spiraled into
violence was arrested late Tuesday.
Wojciech
Braszczok surrendered to face riot and criminal mischief charges, New
York Police Department spokesman John McCarthy said.
Braszczok was expected to make a court appearance Wednesday. There was no response to phone messages left with his attorney.
The
attorney, Phil Karasyk, had said Monday that the detective, a 10-year
veteran of the police force, had only witnessed other bikers attacking
the vehicle. But investigators discovered video evidence showing him
punching an already damaged back window, then twice kicking the side of
the SUV before leaving the scene, according to two people familiar with
the case. The people weren't authorized to discuss the inquiry and spoke
to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
The
arrest added to the complexities of the Sept. 29 episode, which
authorities say began with a reckless motorcycle group ride on a
Manhattan highway and ended with one motorcyclist run over and the
driver dragged from his SUV and beaten on a street.
Six people have been arrested. Four bikers have been criminally charged.
On
Tuesday night, police arrested Clint Caldwell on gang assault and other
charges. It was unclear if he had a lawyer, and there was no phone
listed for him at his Brooklyn address.
The
Manhattan district attorney's office said prosecutors and police were
"methodically scrutinizing the evidence to build the strongest possible
cases."
NYPD internal affairs investigators
had initially been looking into the undercover detective's conduct
because he didn't report until three days later that he had been at the
rally. The expectation that police officers will act if they see crimes
isn't the same for undercover officers.
The
encounter, captured partly on a helmet-mounted video that was posted
online, began when about two dozen riders slowed down, swarming the
Range Rover after it bumped a biker on the West Side Highway. Some
riders dismounted and approached the SUV, and police said some bikers
began damaging it.
The SUV's driver, Alexian
Lien, took off, running over motorcyclist Edwin "Jay" Mieses Jr., who's
from Lawrence, Mass. The impact broke Mieses' legs and caused spinal
injuries that may leave him paralyzed.
Lien's
wife has said he feared for their lives and the safety of their
2-year-old daughter and had no choice but to flee; Lien hasn't been
charged with any crime.
The bikers pursued the
SUV, which exited the highway and got stuck in street traffic. One
biker used his helmet to shatter the driver's window, and others pulled
Lien out and beat and kicked him, police and prosecutors said. Lien
needed stitches.
One motorcyclist charged in
the case, Craig Wright, punched Lien through the broken window and
joined in stomping him on the street, prosecutors said.
Wright's
lawyer, Mitchell Elman, cautioned against any "rush to judgment" in the
highly scrutinized case and said Wright has "every right to fight these
charges."
According to the undercover
detective's account, he saw motorcyclists attacking the SUV but didn't
see anyone harm Lien, Karasyk said Monday. The detective also didn't see
the SUV hit Mieses, the attorney said.
Carrying
no badge or gun, and aware of cases in which officers had been
suspended or dismissed for blowing their covers, "he had no other
option, so he drove away," said Karasyk, who works with the detectives'
union.
