A dashboard camera showed an allegedly drunk passenger attacking an Uber driver in Southern California on Friday night.
YouTube / Via youtube.com
Police identified the passenger in Costa Mesa to the Los Angles Times as Benjamin Golden, 32. Edward Caban, the driver, told CBS News that the passenger appeared to be intoxicated and refused to give him clear directions.
YouTube / Via youtube.com
In the video, Caban is heard telling the passenger, "Dude, you gotta give me directions." The passenger responds, "Why do I have to give you directions? I put my address in the phone" to which Caban says, "No you didn't. You refused to."
The passenger, who is seen in the footage falling over in his seat, tells Caban, "You better turn your ass around."
Caban soon stops the car and tells the passenger, "Alright man, I gotta kick you out...you're too drunk to give me directions."
The passenger says, "I'm not too drunk. I'm giving you directions right now."
After Caban says he has already ended the trip, the two get into an argument. Caban repeatedly asking the passenger to get out of the car, and the passenger insisted that he was giving directions.
Caban eventually warns the passenger that he will call the police if he doesn't get out of the car. The passenger is then seen attacking him.
The footage shows the passenger pummeling Caban and pulling his hair while yelling, "You fucking bitch."
YouTube / Via youtube.com
Caban then pepper sprays the passenger, who gets out and walks away. Caban is heard yelling after him, "You got maced motherfucker."
YouTube / Via youtube.com
Golden, a Taco Bell employee, was arrested and charged with assaulting a taxi driver and public intoxication, CBS News reported.
Golden's Twitter profile, which is now deleted, describes him as "Sushi lover. Bourbon drinker."
Golden was released from jail with a written promise to appear in court, the LA Times reported. Police said they were reviewing the incident and planned to submit charges to the Orange County district attorney's office later this week.
"I don't feel safe driving for Uber anymore," Caban told CBS News.
Edward Caban
CBS News / Via cbsnews.com
Caban said he has faced unruly passengers before and recorded the video to show other drivers what happened.
Kayla Whaling, an Uber spokesman, told BuzzFeed News that they were in contact with Caban and was "thankful that he's OK."
She said that Golden was banned from using the platform.
Whaling said she was not aware if Caban had quit the service but said Uber had offered him money to clean the pepper spray from his car.
According to Whaling, Uber drivers and riders are educated on how to be safe, but she could not say whether drivers were advised to carry pepper spray.
She said drivers were instructed to contact the police immediately if they felt unsafe, which is what Caban did. The Costa Mesa police didn't return a call for information from BuzzFeed News.
Here's the dashcam video uploaded by Caban that shows Golden attacking him.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1RJYZVJ
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