Samaritan says he felt 'intense danger' in SUV attack

• Sergio Consuegra revisits the incident scene with officials Sunday%2C recalls %27simple gesture%27
• CNN reports that the driver%27s head stomped while he was down
• Two men are facing charges

A man who intervened to stop the beating of a driver pulled from his car on a New York street by a group of motorcyclists says he felt he was in intense danger.

Sergio Consuegra told reporters Sunday that he was on his way to church Sept. 29 when he saw an SUV stopped on an upper Manhattan street, surrounded by motorcycle riders.

"I made a simple step that day, a simple gesture,'' he said, appearing with local officials at the scene of the incident.

"I must say today, to send a message to all that whenever they see a family in crisis, no matter the circumstances, when they cry for help, be there for them."

Part of the incident was video recorded, which has drawn wide attention.

Also on Sunday, the second man charged in the case, Reginald Chase, was arraigned on gang assault charges and was held in lieu of $75,000 bond.

His attorney, Gregory Watts, acknowledged Chance broke the SUV's window but says Chase left the scene before the driver was hurt and that his role has been overstated.

Assistant District Attorney Samantha Turino said Chance didn't participate in the beating but helped set it in motion.

CNN, meanwhile, reported that a half-dozen of the motorcyclists used their helmets to attack the driver and that one of them stomped on the driver's head and body after he was down. It cited a criminal complaint signed by a police detective.

CNN identified the rider as Robert Sims, one of two men who turned themselves in Friday. Sims, 35, has been charged with attempted assault, gang assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

Chance, 37, of Brooklyn, was identified by police as the man seen in a video of the incident striking his helmet against the SUV.

Police said the riders attacked the vehicle and pulled the driver, Alexian Lien, from his car after he ran over a motorcyclist, leaving Edwin Mieses Jr. of Lawrence, Mass., severely injured with a broken spine and legs and, according to his family, unlikely to walk again.

Inside the SUV with Lien was his wife and young child. Consuegra said that as riders struck the car, one made a move to grab Lien's wife but stopped as bystanders screamed.

"I saw a baby inside,'' he said. "She had the baby in her arms. I guess she was protecting the baby from all the glass that was flying inside and outside."

"There was more coming, and they feel like they wanted to keep hurting the man — and I felt intense danger at that moment, at that time, and I say to myself, 'Let me not show these people that I'm here to engage in any kind of confrontation but that I'm here to protect the man and the family, so I'm going to keep it cool.' That's what I was thinking," Consuegra said.

Contributing: Associated Press