Uber Driver Threatens To Rape, Kill San Francisco Passenger Who Canceled Ride
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A woman who requested an Uber ride in San Francisco Thursday, but then canceled the request, said she was berated by the driver who threatened to rape and kill her.
SFist blog editor Eve Batey recounted her experience from last night on the website Friday, saying the incident started when the driver did not find her at the designated pickup spot.
Batey said the driver called her and said, "where the f--- are you?" and that once she heard him address her in that manner, she canceled the ride, fearing for her safety.
Shortly after, Batey said the man did find her, drove past her slowly, and called her several more times, screaming profanities at her and saying, "you f---ing bitch, I'm going to find you, rape you and kill you."
Uber and other ride hailing firms use VOIP technology to mask drivers' and passengers' actual phone numbers.
After calling 911, Batey said two officers arrived, interviewed her and assigned her a case number.
Uber charged her $5 for the canceled trip, but after contacting Uber a representative responded and said the company would refund her $5 and investigate the driver, Batey said.
An Uber spokesman told CBS San Francisco, "We want to offer our deep apologies to our rider for this terrible ordeal and thank her for bringing this to our attention. This kind of behavior is absolutely unacceptable and the driver's access to Uber has been permanently removed."
A request for comment from San Francisco Police was not immediately returned Friday afternoon.
Last week, two women who claim they were sexually assaulted by Uber drivers filed suit against the company, alleging it fails to protect its female riders by performing inadequate background checks on drivers.
In August, San Francisco and Los Angeles district attorneys claimed Uber's system of driver background checks failed to screen out two dozen criminals from their driver pool, including one convicted of murder.
