Massachusetts Motorcyclist Injured In NYC Highway Incident Involving SUV

Photo via Facebook

A Lawrence man attending a motorcycle meet up in New York City over the weekend is recovering in the hospital after he was allegedly run over by an SUV following a highway altercation.

Edwin Mieses Jr. was injured after a group of motorcyclists surrounded the driver of a black Range Rover, prompting a confrontation that later led to a vicious assault in the city.

The whole incident was captured on a helmet-mounted video camera worn by one of more than two-dozen motorcyclists, and was later uploaded to YouTube. The video has since gone viral and led to the arrest of one suspect allegedly involved.

In the video, a motorcyclist is shown slowing down in front of the black SUV before the two vehicles make contact.

After they bump, the SUV is stopped in the middle of the road with the swarm of motorcyclists surrounding it.

It’s then that police said riders started hitting the SUV with their helmets, and allegedly slashing the tires on the vehicle. Police said that the driver of the Range Rover was with his wife and daughter at the time of the attack.

While surrounded by more than 30 motorcycle riders, who were on their way to Times Square as part of an organized event, the video shows the driver of the SUV plow through the horde of people, knocking several over. That’s when Mieses, who goes by “Jay Mezee,” was allegedly injured, according to his wife, Dayana Mejia.

Mejia said her husband had nothing to do with the attack on the SUV, and he was a victim of the initial altercation on the New York highway.  She told WCVB that her husband got off his bike to help the rider that was hit in the initial crash. “If you look at the video you can clearly see that that man ran over something. That was my husband,” she said.

According to a Facebook page dedicated to the Lawrence man, called “Justice for Jay Meezee,” which has more than 7,000 “likes,” the media is “trying to paint the man driving the Range Rover as the victim” the page’s creator said. “Yet, Jay [Mieses] is in a coma and paralyzed, unable to walk again along with a list of severe injuries sustained.” Photos of Mieses lying in a hospital bed, unconscious, have been posted to the page.

The extent of Mieses injuries has not been confirmed, however, Mieses wife said in an interview Tuesday that the driver “paralyzed [Mieses] for life,” and that she expects that the medical bills to pay for his recovery will be extremely high.

A fundraiser was started to cover Mieses medical expenses as he recovers in the New York hospital. “This page is to support the victim’s family during this time of need. If you can shower Jay [Mieses] with love and prayers we will gladly accept,” the fundraiser page says. “This family lives in Massachusetts and has to travel to New York to be by his side and it’s a lot of expenses.”

After Mieses was allegedly run down by the driver, the motorcyclists caught up with the SUV following a long chase. One of the riders can be seen in the video getting off his bike and approaching the vehicle before smashing the window of the Range Rover with his helmet. Police said the driver of the SUV was pulled out of his car and assaulted. Police said Tuesday that they made one arrest in connection with the attack. New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly is expected to update the public on the incident sometime Tuesday.