NEW YORK—Edwin Mieses Jr., known as “Jay Meezee,” was possibly paralyzed and is in a coma after angry bikers confronted an SUV driver in Manhattan on Sunday, reports said.
Now-viral video footage shows around 30 bikers slowing down and surrounding driver Alexian Lien’s vehicle on the West Side Highway. His wife and 2-year-old child were inside the vehicle.
The New York Daily News and NY Post reported that the incident started after one of the bike’s stopped in front of Lien’s car, which he then hit.
Footage shows bikers attempting to slash Lien’s tires before Lien drove off, apparently hitting several of the bikers. The bikers then pursued him and eventually caught up with his car. One biker smashed his window while his car was driving through the Washington Heights neighborhood in Manhattan.
Police said Lien was punched in the face and slashed with a knife by one of the bikers, according to the Daily News. He called 911 and was rushed to the hospital and required stitches.
However, when Lien sped off, Mieses and others were apparently hit. Wife Dayana Mieses told CBS that her husband was crushed when he tried to help a biker who was hit in the original collision.
“When all the bikers stopped, my husband got out, parked his bike to walk over to try to help his friend. He walked over towards the front of the vehicle when, at this point, I don’t know what happened the man was scared, the man just peeled off and ran over my husband,” wife Dayana Mieses was quoted as saying.
Some reports are saying that her husband is named Jeremiah Mieses.
She said her husband sustained injuries to his lungs, ribs, and heart, and he is now paralyzed below the waist.
“That man paralyzed my husband,” Mieses said, referring to Lien.
“He needs to pay for what he did,” she added.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Mieses suffered broken legs, broken ribs, and a broken spine. He is now in a coma, his wife said, adding that the couple has two children together
Friends of Mieses created a “Justice for Jay Meezee” Facebook page and Gofundme.com account for him.
“We have been asked by many to start a fund for his family that has had an unsurmountable amount of debt incurred by this act of violence. He lives in Massachusetts and the family has to travel back and forth to New York to be by his side during his coma. Please donate whatever you like or can. Thank you,” the Facebook page says.
It added: “This photo screams MORE than a BROKEN LEG to me! He’s on a breathing tube because his lungs are crushed and WHEN he comes out of his coma, he is going to have a hard time breathing on his own! How is a few stitches the driver who inflicted these injuries, MORE NEWS than THIS?”
The photo shows a man breathing from a tube and his face badly bruised.
PIX-11 reported that the NYPD received more than 200 phone calls about the bikers and their apparent reckless behavior.
Two of the bikers turned themselves in.
Two other bikers were also taken to the hospital, the station reported.
