NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, April 24, 2014, 12:38 PM
The undercover cop charged with joining a motorcycle gang to take part in the brutal beatdown of a father is allowed to leave the country to visit relatives, a judge ruled Thursday.
“Biker cop” Wojciech Braszczok will get his passport back so he can take a weeklong trip to Poland to see family, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley said.
Braszczok, who is charged with gang assault, will leave the country on May 9 so he can see his grandmother and in-laws.
The privilege came with a strict warning that he must return to the U.S. and to Manhattan Supreme Court on May 20 when he’s next scheduled to appear.
Wiley said he was comfortable with the international travel plans of the cop, who faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted on the top count.
“My belief is the defendant has incentive to return to court given that bail has been posted already, given his ties to the community, given the temporary nature of this trip,” said Wiley.
But Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass vehemently opposed letting the Polish native go home with serious charges pending.
“The defendant, according to his passport itself, was born in Poland which makes for a much thornier extradition should the defendant decide to remain in Poland,” Steinglass argued.
Braszczok’s attorney, John Arlia, said his client has strong ties to the city, including his wife and kids, and is not a flight risk. He’s still employed by the NYPD, Arlia said.
“His entire family, his entire adult life is here,” the lawyer added.
Braszczok, who worked undercover at Occupy Wall Street, was one of 11 people indicted in a Sept. 29 biker attack that left Range Rover driver Alexian Lien with serious injuries after he struck a rider on the West Side Highway and fled the scene.
Lien said the mob of bikers was out to get him and his family.
The shocking incident was videotaped by one of the bikers and made international news.
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