MANHATTAN — Cops have arrested another of the bikers who beat a father who was out for a drive with his family in upper Manhattan, leaving him with two black eyes and stitches, the NYPD said Monday night.
Craig Wright, 29, was one of the men who beat 33-year-old Alexian Lien after a swarm of bikers cornered him and his wife and 2-year-old daughter at St. Nicholas Avenue and West 178th Street on Sept. 29, cops said.
Wright was the fifth biker to be arrested in connection with the violent encounter. He was awaiting arraignment Tuesday morning on charges of assault, gang assault and unlawful imprisonment, cops said.
The encounter began when Wright, along with a large group of other bikers, surrounded Lien's black Range Rover on the Henry Hudson Parkway near 125th Street, police said.
Video taken from a helmet-mounted camera showed Christopher Cruz veer into Lien's path and brake, prompting a collision, which cops said was his intention. Cruz has said he did not mean to cut off Lien.
As Lien and Cruz pulled over, other motorcyclists swarmed around the SUV, banged on its windows and slashed its tires, cops said.
Lien then hit the gas to escape and struck three bikers, including Edwin Mieses, whose legs and back were broken, according to cops and relatives.
The bikers chased Lien, finally cornering him in Washington Heights, where Reginald Chance, 37, shattered the driver's window with his silver helmet, officials said.
That's when Wright was joined by Robert Sims and others in beating Lien, cops said.
Allen Edwards was believed to be one of the men who banged on Lien's windows and turned himself in, but the District Attorney's office declined to prosecute him pending an investigation.
The NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau was also investigating six off-duty cops who rode among the throng of motorcyclists.
Other bikers who assaulted Lien are still being sought, a police spokesman said Tuesday morning.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477).
