NYC Police Detective Guilty Of Biker Road Rage, Wojciech Braszczok Trial Convicts On Lesser Charges [Video]
New York courts have found a NYC police detective guilty of less charges related to a 2013 biker road rage assault on a SUV. The Wojciech Braszczok could have convicted the former NYPD detective of greater charges including first-degree assault, or he could have plead guilty in return for little or no jail time, but the biker cop felt he was not guilty.
In a related report by the Inquisitr, a video of the slowest police car chase ever showed Texas cops moving at a walking pace on the highway because police policy did not allow them to overtake the “fleeing” vehicle.
Wojciech Braszczok was supposedly part of the motorcycle gang that shattered windows and terrorized the family, including a two-year-old in the back seat. Braszczok was off-duty at the time of the SUV assault, but he decided to follow the biker gang because the SUV driver allegedly bumped a motorcycle and then ran over one of the motorcyclists named Edwin Mieses Jr. and paralyzed him.
“I’m horrified at this point, and I recall asking my wife, ‘What do I do? What do I do?'” Lien recounted through tears while admitting that he knew he had hit someone. “She says, ‘Just go! Just go!’ And I make a hard right because I see there’s an opening and I … I just go.”
The courts found the NYC police detective guilty of assault and riot charges, although it could have been far worse. Videos of the SUV assault showed the undercover NYPD cop joining a motorcycle gang in chasing a SUV down only to drag them from the vehicle and beat them. The driver of the SUV, Alexian Lien, was dragged him from his Range Rover, then stomped on, kicked and hit with helmets until he appeared to lose consciousness. The biker attack required 20 stitches on his face.
At the time, lawyers claimed the NYC police detective was never within 12 feet of the victim.
“It’s an absolute overcharge. He is in no way near [the biker who attacked the SUV driver] and doesn’t join the others…. They can’t prove it…. The allegation is that he struck the rear portion hatchback window, which has a gaping hole already in it; it’s already destroyed. Under the law, it’s a fatal flaw. You can’t break what’s already broken.”
Wojciech Braszczok did admit that he lied about his presence at the biker brawl because he was worried about NYPD sanctions. He also claims he had wanted to “take police action” once the attack begun, but the detective believes that would not have helped.
“I don’t think they would believe me that I was a cop,” he testified. “And even if I said I was, I had nothing to identify myself with.”
A co-defendent, Robert Sims, was found guilty of a more serious assault charge.
“The verdict was based on the law and evidence and nothing but the law and the evidence,” Judge Maxwell Wiley said, according to the Ithaca Journal. “I’m sure that it will be noted that the court arrived at different verdicts between the defendants. This difference was based solely on the court’s evaluation of the evidence.”
Even though the judge found the NYC police detective guilty, Wojciech Braszczok’s lawyer claims his client was “vindicated” by the ruling. According to the NY Daily News, the NYPD detective could have faced 25 years in prison, but now he faces a maximum of seven years.
[Image via YouTube]
