The family, driving up the West Side on a sunny afternoon, suddenly found themselves surrounded by motorcycles. In front of their sport utility vehicle, and behind, buzzing past on either side. A swarm of high-powered bikes had all but commandeered the three lanes of the northbound Henry Hudson Parkway on Sunday, and caught between them was the 33-year-old driver of a Range Rover, his wife and their 2-year-old daughter. When one of the motorcycles apparently slowed to a near-stop in the center lane, it was struck by the vehicle and its rider knocked to the ground. The vehicle and its occupants stayed put at first. But moments later, surrounded by the fallen biker's fellow riders, it barreled through the crowd, setting off a chase that would end in violence after the S.U.V. became stuck in traffic on a side street in Washington Heights, the police said. Several of the pursuing motorcyclists pulled the driver from the vehicle and beat him, the police said. As detectives were working on Monday to piece together the events that led to the assault, a six-and-a-half-minute recording captured on the helmet camera of one of the riders and posted to video-sharing Web sites showed the harrowing chase and the beginning of the attack. The police have made no arrests in the case. The police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, said the motorcyclists had been part of a planned, but unauthorized, event in which hundreds of riders gathered outside of Manhattan and intended to descend en masse into Times Square. Under the name "Hollywood Stuntz," the loosely organized ride succeeded in snarling Midtown traffic last year, Mr. Kelly said, "with well over a thousand motorcycles, dirt bikes, quads, four-wheel vehicles." At least 15 people were arrested, mostly on vehicular charges, Mr. Kelly said, and 55 motorcycles were confiscated. This was enough to break up the colossal informal ride, sending splinter groups tearing off in different directions. For those who regularly drive in and around New York, such columns of motorcycle riders are a common and sometimes frustrating feature of summer weekends. "We encountered a group of two to three hundred motorcycles," said Jon Phillips, recalling a drive on the Saw Mill River Parkway the previous Sunday. "It was rather unnerving." The New York State Police arrested eight people in July after a "street stunt ride" of nearly 100 motorcycles stretched across two upstate counties. The police said many were seen driving into oncoming traffic, forcing vehicles from the road and riding on sidewalks. That ride, too, was recorded and posted to the Web. The encounter on Sunday between the S.U.V. driver and the bikers began at about 2 p.m., the police said, as the motorcyclists filled the northbound side of the highway in Upper Manhattan. Mr. Forde said after the official ride was canceled at the last minute on Sunday, he joined a large group that headed across the Brooklyn Bridge and up the West Side. There, they encountered the sport utility vehicle. He said the driver sped up when the riders approached and hurled obscenities at them. As the video begins, the Range Rover can be seen in the center lane, surrounded on either side by motorcycles, some without license plates. One of the riders appears to slow down in front of the car and is struck, causing the group to stop and block the entire highway. The police said the collision appeared to have been inadvertent on the part of the driver. Seconds later, some of the motorcyclists, most wearing face-covering helmets, crowded around the S.U.V. The police said some began attacking it, though that is not readily apparent in the video. At least one rider present, Rene Towles, 43, offered a different account. "No biker became aggressive with the driver after the incident," said Mr. Towles, who belongs to a Brooklyn motorcycle club. "People were just trying to find out what just happened." Moments later, the vehicle accelerates toward the riders who are blocking the its path, crashing into several of them and appearing to roll over at least one motorcycle. The police said that the motorcyclist who had initially been struck sustained broken legs, but that no other serious injuries were reported. For the next several minutes, the vehicle can be seen fleeing in the video, with the motorcyclists in pursuit. After being forced to stop near the entrance to the George Washington Bridge, the driver is approached by one of the motorcyclists, who tries to open the driver's side door; the S.U.V. bolts, knocking the man down. The pursuers finally catch the vehicle in stopped traffic on 178th Street in Washington Heights, where, the police said, the man is pulled out of his car and punched by several assailants.

• published: 01 Oct 2013
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