Passenger Attack Leaves Sacramento Uber Driver In Coma
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A Sacramento Uber driver is in the fight of his life after a passenger attacked him during a ride.
Joseph McVey is in a medically-induced coma after suffering a heart attack following the assault. His wife says she's frustrated with the ride-sharing company's response after they continued charging her husband for the Uber car that was booked into evidence. After she calling CBS13, Uber has reversed the charge.
"I was mad," Hollie McVey said.
Hollie McVey wears her husband's wedding band around her neck as he lays sedated in a hospital bed.
"It's just changing our whole world, our whole little family dynamic," McVey said.
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Together, she and her husband Joseph McVey have two little girls. Joseph McVey suffered a massive heart attack after fending off a knife attack by an Uber passenger in McVey's rented Uber vehicle.
The suspect, Cedric Jeter, was taken into custody.
"The detective actually came to the hospital, and said that they wanted the vehicle for evidence," McVey said.
Hollie McVey said as her husband laid in the hospital, with his Uber vehicle in evidence, Uber continued to withdraw funds from his account. She tried e-mailing the company and says she received an automated reply back.
"Uber needs to change," Hollie McVey said. "They need to have better communication with their drivers."
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An Uber spokesperson said their support team did receive an e-mail and called back but was unable to leave a message because the callback voicemail was not set up.
The spokesperson issued a statement reading: "Our thoughts are with Mr. McVey and his family. As soon as we were able to get in contact with a family member, we immediately reached out to offer our support. We stand ready to cooperate with the police in their investigation."
"It was nerve-racking," Hollie McVey said.
A wife in crisis, facing added confusion. Now that she's heard back from Uber, her husband has her undivided attention.
"It's going to be really difficult for him to even accept what's happened," Hollie McVey said.
McVey said her husband had only been driving for Uber for a couple of months before the attack last weekend. The suspect, Cedric Jeter, is in jail facing an assault with a deadly weapon charge.