MANHATTAN — An undercover NYPD detective, along with a second defendant, was convicted of assault and other charges in the beating of an SUV driver after a wild motorcycle chase on the West Side Highway.
Det. Wojciech Braszczok, 34, and co-defendant Robert Sims, 36, were accused of assaulting Alexian Lien, who was pulled from his SUV and brutally beaten on a Washington Heights street by a group of bikers following the chase.
However, the two men were acquitted on the most serious charges of gang assault and first-degree assault, for which they faced up to 25 years in prison.
Braszczok and Sims were found guilty of second-degree assault, coercion, riot and criminal mischief, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's office. Sims was also found guilty of weapons possession.
Braszczok faces anywhere between two and seven years in prison, while Sims faces between three and 15 years, according to ABC news.
The trial relied heavily on videos and images from cellphones and GoPro cameras, including video that showed Braszczok smashing the rear window of Lien’s SUV with his helmet.
When he took the stand on June 4, Braszczok maintained that he chased the SUV because he believed Lien was an aggressor who had fled the scene of an accident, according to CBS News.
Earlier in the confrontation, Lien rear-ended one of the bikers when a motorcycle slowed down in front of him on the highway. Some of the motorcyclists then attacked the SUV, punching and kicking the vehicle that also housed Lien’s wife and 2-year-old daughter.
Lien then fled, plowing into three motorcyclists and running over one man who was paralyzed as a result.
About a dozen motorcyclists caught up with Lien when he exited onto 178th Street, pulling him from his vehicle, beating him with helmets and stomping on him.
Braszczok reportedly told the court that he chased Lien because he wanted to stop the car from running over more people.
Braszczok is currently suspended and reportedly faces further disciplinary action by the NYPD, including possibly losing his job, for not calling police and for initially lying to his superiors about his involvement in the incident.
Sims, an electrician, did not testify in the case.
Both men are expected to be sentenced in early August.
Eleven other men were also indicted in the incident. They previously pled guilty to charges including assault and riot, and face sentences of up to two years in prison.
“The explosive nature of this gang assault — much of it captured on camera — was shocking, and for the victim and his family, a terrifying ordeal,” said Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance in a statement.
“The convictions of eleven defendants demonstrate that gang violence of any kind is a threat to public safety that will not be tolerated.”
