An internal affairs cop who rode with bikers involved in the vicious West Side Highway beatdown of SUV driver Alex Lien isn’t expected to be charged in the incident, according to his lawyer.
Undercover officer Matthew Rodriguez, 28, met for about an hour Tuesday with Manhattan prosecutors and told them he had left the ride early and was “nowhere near the scene” of the assault, and hadn’t participated in anything illegal, his lawyer Pat Bonanno, said.
“It doesn’t appear that Mr. Rodriguez will be the subject of any criminal sanctions based on the evidence that we have,” Bonanno said. “We think that the District Attorney’s office will find that Mr. Rodriguez did not do anything criminal. He was not around at the time of the incident and the evidence supports that.”
Rodriguez said he was glad “to be given the opportunity to say my piece.”
“It’s been pretty difficult, but I’m taking it one day at a time,” he told reporters outside the DA’s office.
The cop, a member of New Rochelle-based biker club Front Line Soldiers, was one of several off-duty officers riding in a Sept. 29 rally that spun out of control after a Range Rover driven by Lien bumped a biker and ran over him on the Henry Hudson Parkway.
A pack of the motorcycle riders took off after Lien, smashed his windows, dragged him from the car and beat him in front of his horrified wife and small child.
Sources said Rodriguez could still face departmental charges.