A churchgoing good Samaritan who helped stop a gang of bikers from stomping motorist Alexian Lien insisted Sunday that he’s not a hero for protecting the helpless victim from the mob of motorcyclists.
Sergio Consuegra said he was late for prayer services Sept. 29 when he saw Lien’s Range Rover stop on West 178th Street, where a bunch of bikers began pounding on it, with one of them trying to pull Lien’s wife, Rosalyn Ng, from the luxury SUV.
“She grabbed [hold of] something in there. He said, ‘You’re gonna get it also.’ She was protecting the baby,” Consuegra said of the couple’s 2-year-old daughter.
“People started screaming and crying and they say: ‘No, not the baby.’ I started thinking to myself, ‘I gotta do something.’ There was blood all over the place.”
Speaking at a news conference with elected officials at the scene of the attack, Consuegra — who said he “trained for many years in karate and boxing” — said he then stepped between Lien and his attackers.
“There was more [bikes] coming. I feel like they want to keep hurting the man. I felt intense danger. I said, ‘That’s it, guys. Let it go. Let it go.’ Somehow they stopped right in front of me.”
He added: “I do not call myself a hero. I wish I could have done more. I made a simple step that day. A simple gesture. They came to Washington Heights seeking for help and they found it.”
State Sen. Adriano Espaillat (D-Manhattan) said “all New Yorkers are appalled” by the attack, adding Consuegra and “local residents from this neighborhood put their lives on the line to save that family.”