Woman Says Angry Uber Driver Threatened To Rape, Kill Her
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- The ride-sharing service Uber is not only dealing with a 3-day strike, it is also facing a serious complaint that one of its drivers allegedly threatened to rape and kill a passenger.
After a night out with friends Eve Batey said she hailed an Uber in Duboce Triangle.
"I was tired, I just wanted to get home," she said.
But according to Batey, instead of a ride, the angry driver on the other end of the phone made a clear and terrifying threat -- 'I'm going to find you, I'm going to rape you, I'm going to kill you,' he said.
"I've had people say stuff to me and be weird before," said Batey, "But this experience had a different feel to it, a different tenor to it in a way that made me feel like it was a genuine threat."
According to Batey, this entire thing started because the driver couldn't find her. She was waiting for him on one corner, but his maps put her on a different corner. It was just a few feet away, but far enough that he could not see her.
"He was very angry, swearing, and I said, 'I'm not comfortable with this. Let's just cancel the ride.'"
Batey said cancelling the ride seemed to enrage the driver even more.
"He figured out where I was, and was pulling onto the Muni platform," she said.
Eventually the driver drove off. Batey did call 911 and police came, but the driver had left. She followed up by filing a police report.
Uber has released a statement saying in part, "We want to offer our deep apologies to our rider… the driver's access to Uber has been permanently removed."
As for Batey, she doesn't plan to sue. She just wants others to hear her cautionary tale. "We think, 'oh, we live in a city, let's just let it go' but, [if] you do that, you're just letting that person do it to someone else."