EAST WILLIAMSBURG — A bread truck driver was attacked by two cyclists, one of which whipped him with a bike chain before both choked him during a road rage incident, according to police and prosecutors.
The fight began on the corner of Bushwick Avenue and Meserole Street in East Williamsburg on June 22 just before 3 a.m. and spilled into a nearby bodega, the Union Deli & Grocery, police said.
Roberto Olivares, 51, and Carlos Salinas, 41, were riding their bikes along Bushwick Avenue when they were involved in some kind of traffic incident with the driver, police said. Officials didn't have details about what the incident.
The two men confronted the 22-year-old deliveryman when he pulled over and exited his truck to make a delivery, police said.
Salinas whipped the deliveryman with his a bicycle chain and lock and tried to throttle him, police said.
The fight spilled into a nearby bodega and, in the ensuing mayhem, the bodega's LCD television, which had been hanging from the ceiling, crashed to the ground, police and prosecutors said.
Surveillance footage from inside the bodega shows the victim enter the bodega with a bottle of wine in hand, still talking to the perpetrators who are outside of range of the camera on the sidewalk.
Salinas enters the frame swinging a bike chain while the victim retaliates, pummeling him with the bottle of wine.
The bodega worker on duty at the time of the melee, who couldn't be reached for comment, put himself between the two men and tried to keep them apart, the video shows.
The two end up on the ground and are eventually pried apart by onlookers, the video shows.
The victim was not charged, police said.
Salinas was charged with assault and menacing and was released on his his own recognizance.
Salinas' public defender didn't return a request for comment immediately.
Olivares was given a desk appearance ticket for criminal obstruction of breathing. No information about an attorney representing him was available immediately.
