Silke Jasso
Michelle Jennings is a driver for the ride-hailing service Lyft. She knew something was up with her rider when she took the headrest off the passenger seat and began to blow her nose into it. The incident took place in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Videos by Rare
Stephanie Young, 28, had been loaded into the car by her friends and sent off alone. Jennings says she got in the car crying but stopped. But when Jennings asked Young to stop blowing her nose into Jennings’ upholstery, things got violent.
That’s when Michelle Jennings started filming — and it’s a good thing she did.
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Young, who alternates between screaming and slurring her words, starts trying to hit Jennings, spitting on her at one point. Jennings covers herself, losing a lock of hair and a fingernail in the process.
She pulls into a parking lot to get a security guard’s help. At this point in the video, Young is heard screaming, “You’re kicking me out because I don’t have the same skin color as you.”
Lyft banned Young from the ride sharing program, and St. Petersburg Police are investigating.
ABC Action News reports that Lyft released this statement:
We were horrified to hear about this senseless attack and have reached out to the driver, Michelle, to offer our support. Any kind of violence on the platform is a betrayal of the Lyft values and policies. We have permanently banned the passenger from accessing Lyft and have been in contact with the authorities to support their investigation.”
Jennings says Lyft won’t release Stephanie Young’s information to police without a subpoena, potentially hampering the investigation.
