Police: Uber Driver Hit Two Women With Snow Scraper
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An Uber driver has been arrested for allegedly striking two women with a snow scraper Tuesday night in Streeterville, in an attack caught on video.
Police said 37-year-old Chieh Wang was taken into custody Tuesday evening after he hit the women with a snow brush in the 200 block of East Grand Avenue around 6 p.m.
Police said Wang showed up to pick up the two women, but got into an argument with them when they told him a third passenger wasn't there yet.
Wang allegedly refused service, left, then returned, took a snow scraper out of his car, and began hitting both women with it. Police said he also damaged one woman's cell phone in the process.
One of the women recorded Wang on her cell phone as he took the snow brush out of the trunk and swung it at her. A passerby across the street also recorded part of the attack before intervening.
Both videos have been posted to YouTube.
Wang has been charged with two counts of battery and one count of criminal damage to property, all misdemeanors. He was due to appear in court on Jan. 15.
CBS 2 caught up with Kourtney Wilson and Toni Sanders as they left the local Uber office after sharing their nightmare experience. They had called an Uber to this Whole Foods last night at around 6 p.m. Toni was still paying when Courtney jumped in the Uber. But the driver didn't want to wait and started to drive off twice. So she hopped out.
"The Uber driver then also exited his vehicle and approached me and asked me did I want to fight?" said Wilson. "I'm thinking the Uber driver is a lunatic so we walked down the street around the corner on Grand outside of Whole Foods and called for a second Uber."
And then the driver came back.
The women say the lawyer arrived just in time, followed by police, but they say they could never have imagined their night out would come to such a violent end.
"I'm from the city, born and raised, Hyde Park and nothing like this has ever happened to me," Wilson said.
In a statement Wednesday morning, Uber said Wang has been removed from the ride-sharing platform.
"This type of behavior is unacceptable and is not tolerated. As soon as we were aware of this incident, we immediately removed this driver's access to Uber. We will provide any information to local law enforcement as needed for their investigation," the company said.