TEEN NABBED FOR ROLE IN BIKE ATTACK
Cops: Boy, 15, part of BMW hit
A young Queens teenager has been arrested for his part in a bicycle blitzkrieg against a Manhattan motorist in the Flatiron District — and police linked the punchy pedal pack to a second victim, officials said Thursday.
The 15-year-old was identified and taken into custody late Wednesday just a few hours after police released images of Tuesday’s attack on a BMW driver on Fifth Ave. near E. 21st St.
Cops charged the teen with riot and criminal mischief. His name was not released because of his age.
But about five minutes before the group attacked the BMW, one of the cyclists struck a taxi rolling down Fifth Ave. near E. 28th St., damaging its passenger-side windshield, sources with knowledge of the case said.
When the 52-year-old cab driver got out to confront the teen, another youngster swung his bike at him like a club, hitting him in the back, before everyone rolled off.
The cab driver suffered a minor injury and was taken to an area hospital for treatment.
Mayor de Blasio called the back-to-back incidents “absolutely unacceptable” and vowed there’d be “consequences” for the teens involved.
“We gotta teach our young people better all the time. It’s incumbent upon all of us,” he added. “I don’t ever want to see anything like this happen in New York City.”
More than a dozen teens on BMX bicycles were caught on video surrounding, punching, kicking and jumping on the BMW SUV in a fit of rage after one of their friends fell to the ground while trying to grab a door handle on the vehicle to hitch a ride about 4 p.m. Tuesday.
The car’s driver told the Daily News that the teens’ relentless assault caused shattered glass to fly into both his face and that of his terrified mother, who was in the passenger seat and calling 911.
“She started crying and screaming to the 911 operator,” recalled Max Torgovnick, 36. “They heard her screaming, ‘They are going to kill us! We’re going to die! Send help please, we need help!’ ”
Torgovnick said he and his mother were on their way to drop off donations at a Housing Works thrift store in Chelsea when the young bicyclists came up behind his car at E. 23rd St. and Fifth Ave.
“I was at the red light. As the light turned green, I started to pull forward and I saw in the rear view mirror all these bikes coming and I wasn’t sure what was about to happen,” Torgovnick said.
“They were going seven, eight miles an hour and I noticed some of them pulling in front of the car, some of them are holding on to the door handles to get a free ride. I saw that and I was like, ‘This is a dangerous situation.’ ”
Torgovnick said he slowed down, planning to let the teens pass, and had no idea one of them had crashed.
“When I heard the thud, I didn’t know what happened,” said Torgovnick. “I didn’t know if somebody had, like, hit the car with their hand out of anger.”
“I slowed down to a stop and started to open the door,” he said. “But suddenly, I’m surrounded by a dozen people who start to get off their bikes and surround the car.”
Videos show at least four bicyclists attacking the 2009 BMW SUV, which had medical plates — Torgovnick said his father is a doctor.
The teens body-slammed the vehicle and punched a rear driver’s side window. “Get out of the car!” and “Roll down the window!” they shouted before ultimately rolling off.
Neither Torgovnick nor his mother were hurt.
Additional teens are still being sought by police.
Anyone with information was asked to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.