Aug 24, 2007 2:12 am US/Eastern
Bizarre Case Of 'Spin Rage' Shakes NYC Health Club
Man Says Stationary Bike Used As Weapon In Wild Attack
By Elizabeth Hur, CBS 2 News
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Stuart Sugarman, 47, claims he was a victim of a bizarre case of "spin rage." His attorney said the attack on his client happened when another man assaulted him using a stationary bicycle at the Equinox Health Club in Manhattan.
CBS
We've all heard of road rage, but "spin rage" you may not be aware of.
One man says he was injured when someone in his spinning class lost control and went on the attack.
"If I was a lighter guy, I could have been killed over something like this," victim Stuart Sugarman said.
Added Dr. David Matusz of Lenox Hill Hospital: "It's pretty serious. At this point, he has weakness and loss of sensation in his arm."
According to Matusz, the victim also suffered a concussion and had surgery on his neck. Determined to make sure no one else endures his pain, Sugarman hired an attorney, who calls his client a victim of "spin rage."
Digg This Story!"It is the loss of all self control by someone who is just sharing not a road in this case but sharing a stationary bike facility," attorney Samuel Davis said.
There's music and excitement at a routine spin class, but Sugarman says on the night of Aug. 15, his workout spun out of control.
"This fella came in and sat down and he didn't like the fact that there was a lot of excitement going on and for whatever reason, he targeted me," Sugarman said.
"Taking the bike and myself and hitting me so hard into the sheetrock wall that we crashed to the wall."
Sugarman's attorney says a phone call from the health club only added insult to injury.
"Not asking, how are you feeling Mr. Sugarman? But telling him that he was terminated from the club," Davis said.
Davis claims the Equinox Health Club on East 85th Street failed to get his client first aid and did not step in to stop an incident that, in his view, could and should have been prevented. The company released a statement in response, which read in part: "As a company we do not disclose member information. ... This is now a police matter and we are supporting their investigation."
Davis says neither he nor his client is buying the explanation.
"This was an unprovoked criminal act," Davis said.
Police agreed and charged the alleged attacker, Christopher Carter of Manhattan with assault.
Carter and his attorney declined to go on camera but told CBS 2 HD in a phone message that, "Mr. Sugarman has a vivid imagination."
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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