A woman says an Uber driver got angry and attacked her after picking her up from a radiation treatment for breast cancer.
Driver Ali Abadir picked up Capri Taylor outside MedStar Georgetown University Hospital Wednesday evening, police said.
Taylor said she got inside the car and was talking to her sister on the phone about breast cancer.
“The driver said that he didn’t want me to be on the phone,” Taylor said.
We're making it easier for you to find stories that matter with our new newsletter — The 4Front. Sign up here and get news that is important for you to your inbox.
She told him it was an important call with a family member.
“I said I didn’t want to argue,” she said. “I told him it was very uncomfortable to argue.”
She said she ended the call and asked Abadir to play music. He allegedly said no, and they argued.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
“He then proceeded to cancel the ride, and once he canceled the ride, I got out, closed the door, and once I closed the door, he got out of his front seat and came around my side of the car, to the passenger side of the car, and choked me,” Taylor said.
He allegedly hit her in the head. Taylor said she fought back in self-defense.
“I was just trying to get him off me, and it was just a mess,” she said.
D.C. police immediately showed up, talked to witnesses and put Ali Abadir in handcuffs.
According to the police report, he was “placed under arrest for simple assault.”
“What’s been described is disturbing,” an Uber spokesperson said. “Violence of any kind is not tolerated on the Uber app, and we immediately removed the driver’s access as soon as this was reported to us.”
“I thank them for making the arrest because he should not be allowed to walk the street and do this to anybody else,” Taylor said.
Abadir received a citation and has a scheduled court date.
He declined to comment to News4 about the arrest.
Taylor is being treated for minor injuries.
“I feel angry; I feel annoyed; I feel violated,” she said.
