What would you do? What would you do if your car was surrounded by 30 angry bikers? What would you do if they were threatening your wife and child? Personally, I’m running them over and not thinking twice about it.
The debate about personal safety and a measured response has raged in the last 48 hours after this video emerged. It shows a violent incident in New York, one where an SUV is confronted by a biker gang.
The biker, Edwin Mieses, is paralyzed and in a coma. His family claims he was attempting to “help the driver.” Nevermind the fact he was rolling around with a biker gang, slashing tires, causing accidents and endangering the lives of everyone on the road. But I digress.
Here’s his distraught wife telling his side of the story.
The Boston Globe did some digging on Mieses (who goes by the biker name Jay Meezee). His driving record is less than exemplary.
Though Mieses is a Massachusetts resident, he has never had a valid Massachusetts driver’s license for a passenger vehicle and has never applied for a motorcycle license, the Registry of Motor Vehicles said.
Registry records show that Mieses applied for a learner’s permit in 1999 and 2000, but that he never obtained a full license because he failed to pay fines imposed after he was ticketed for speeding in Lawrence in 1999. His last contact with the Registry was in 2001, when he obtained an identification card, registry records show.
Since 1999, he has been ticketed by police 16 times, in Lawrence, Methuen, Roxbury, Andover, and New Hampshire, according to registry records.
In June, the Registry notified the National Driver Register that Mieses was a habitual traffic offender whose right to drive in Massachusetts was revoked until 2017, records show.
Police said they received more than 200 calls Sunday about this particular gang acting recklessly, harassing drivers. So it’s hard to call Edwin Mieses an innocent bystander after seeing the video and reviewing his driving record.
But the family is angry. They are asking police to charge the SUV driver, they are asking police for justice (they even have a Facebook page).
I, for one, don’t believe they deserve any. I, for one, applaud the SUV driver for protecting his family from a bunch of thugs.