Woodbridge Biker Attack Not Racially Motivated, Police Say

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — Woodbridge police say a man punched in the face Sunday by a pack of motorcyclists near the Wawa on King George's Road was not racially motivated. Instead, the encounter likely stemmed from road rage earlier on the Garden State Parkway, they said.

Just after midnight Sunday, Aug. 6 Woodbridge police were called to King George's Road in the Fords section. Officers found a minivan and a cargo van on the road. The driver and passenger side windows of the white cargo van were smashed and the minivan's driver side mirror was broken.

The driver of the van said he and his family were coming home from JFK airport when they were surrounded by five or six motorcyclists. He said one of the bikers punched him in the face and told him something along the lines of "go back to your country," said Capt. Roy Hoppock. He also called the man Indian.

Woodbridge police originally investigated the crime as possibly racially motivated. They never found the bikers, but further interviews with the man revealed the feud actually started earlier when all the cars were travelling southbound on the Garden State Parkway.

When he pulled off the Parkway onto King George's Road and stopped at a red light near the Wawa, the van said he was suddenly surrounded by the bikers, who began kicking and punching the van. The victim said he got out and, at that point, one of the motorcyclists approached him, said “you almost hit my bike” and then punched him in the face. Then another motorcyclist told him to go back to his country.

The bikers drove off and the victim refused medical attention.

Image via Morguefile