Biker Suspect Reginald Chance Flips Bird at Reporters; Christopher Cruz Says He's Not Responsible for Highway Brawl
Infamous biker Reginald Chance, 37, a suspect in the controversial beat down of Manhattan executive Alexian Lien, 33, during a highway brawl in New York City two Sundays ago told reporters exactly how he felt on Sunday when he flipped the bird at reporters moments before his arraignment.
Chance was identified in a viral video of the high speed brawl as the biker who smashed the driver's window of Lien's SUV with his helmet after a four-mile chase along the West Side Highway. Lien had previously crushed the spine of Chance's fellow biker with his vehicle. He faced assault and gang assault charges and was captured by the New York Daily News showing his displeasure moments before he faced the judge.
The biker's lawyer Gregory Watts maintains in other reports, however, that his client was not involved in Lien's beat down.
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"My client obviously overreacted in smashing the window. But beyond that, he was not a participant in any assault on that victim. So, we are going to contest those charges vigorously," said Watts in a NY1 report.
A day earlier, another suspect Robert Simms, 35, was arraigned on similar charges leveled at Chance. He is alleged to have tried opening the door of the SUV when it stopped on the highway.
Last week, biker Christopher Cruz was also arraigned on charges of reckless driving and unlawful imprisonment as he is alleged to have set off the chain of events that resulted in injury and mayhem.
In an ABC interview, Cruz denies responsibility for starting the brawl.
"[It was] never my intention to make him stop," said Cruz. "I didn't think I was doing anything wrong with just turning into another lane. The other bikes are going as slow as I am."
"I was looking over my shoulder to see where my friends were," he said. "I wanted them to pull in front so I could follow them. I didn't brake but when I looked over my shoulder, my hand came off the throttle a little, but the driver didn't slow down at all and bumped me."
He explained that after the bump both he and Lien stopped and he tried to get an explanation from Lien for the bump but the Manhattan executive didn't give him a friendly response.
"He looked straight ahead and never made eye contact with me," Cruz said. "So I just went back to my bike and when I was getting on he took off."
Last week, through their lawyers Lien's wife, Rosalyn Ng, said her husband drove off because they feared for their lives.
As the investigations into the brawl continue, sources told NY1 that the NYPD has arrested a fourth person in connection with the brawl.
