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Official: N.Y. cop was undercover at motorcycle rally

Investigators also seek off-duty police who were witnesses

The Columbian
Published: October 5, 2013, 5:00pm

NEW YORK — Authorities are investigating whether an undercover police officer present at a motorcycle rally witnessed a violent confrontation between an SUV driver and a swarm of bikers and didn’t immediately report it, a law enforcement official said Saturday.

The officer came forward several days after the Sept. 29 rally to say he was present, according to the anonymous official. The officer has an attorney, and internal affairs detectives are trying to determine whether he witnessed the assault on the SUV driver, the official said.

New York Police Department spokesman John McCarthy said a detective had been stripped of his gun and badge pending the outcome of an internal affairs investigation into whether any off-duty officers were present.

Undercover officers are required to immediately report crimes they witness. Uniformed officers are required to take police action if they see a crime occurring, but the rules are murkier for undercover officers who face blowing their cover, confusing civilians who don’t realize the undercover is really a cop, and ruining yearslong investigations.

Last weekend, dozens of bikers stopped the Range Rover SUV on a highway, attacked the vehicle, then chased the driver and pulled him from the car after he plowed over motorcyclist Edwin Mieses Jr., of Lawrence, Mass., while trying to escape, police said. The driver, Alexian Lien, needed stiches after being pummeled by the bikers.

Investigators have been interviewing dozens of witnesses, but it still remains unclear how many people attacked Lien. On Saturday, police said two other motorcyclists were taken into custody and released a photograph of a man they say they want to question.

Robert Sims, 35, of Brooklyn, was arraigned Saturday in Manhattan on charges of first-degree gang assault, first-degree assault and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Lien has not been charged. His wife said last week that they feared for their lives as they drove off.

Mieses’ family said Friday that he wasn’t doing anything wrong when he was struck by Lien’s SUV. They said he has a broken spine and two broken legs and may never walk again. They acknowledged that Mieses had stopped his bike in front of the SUV but said he was trying to get the other riders to leave the family alone when he was hit.

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