No Criminal Charges For U-M Student Whose Rant Against Uber Driver Went Viral
ANN ARBOR (WWJ) - A University of Michigan student whose rant against an Uber driver went viral will not face criminal charges.
Jake Croman's profanity-laden stunt was captured on video last month. The driver, Artur Zawada, posted the video online.
In the 33-second-long video, Croman uses a homophobic slur against Zawada several times, along with dropping numerous F-bombs and other insults.
"You're canceling us again, why, for what? They don't give a s*** about you, they don't give two f****," he says. "You little f***** f***. You want to kick me off? Kick me off you piece of s***. You're an Uber driver, go f****** drive, you little f***. Minimum wage f*****. Go f*** yourself."
Click here to watch the video (WARNING: Contains explicit language)
Police had requested a disorderly conduct charge. The Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office tells the Free Press that while the rant was rude, boorish, and offensive, it wasn't a crime.
U-M released a statement after the incident, saying Croman's actions were "reprehensible" and completely inconsistent with the school's values.
Croman, a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, said he was simply reacting after Zawada directed a racial slur at him. He told Mlive.com in a statement that the Uber driver refused to pick him up a few weeks earlier on the basis of religion.
"What you don't see in the video is that the driver had made a number of offensive anti-Semitic remarks that provoked my response," the statement said. "I am not proud of my reaction to his discrimination and I regret my choice of words. Shortly after the verbal altercation, I filed a complaint with the Ann Arbor police department and they are now dealing with the issue."
Zawada said in a comment on the video that this was the fourth incident with Croman and his friends.
"Nov. Dec. and twice in March. I told him on 3rd occasion that I requested Uber to banned him but he is/was using friends accounts. Told him and his friends that I will not take them and that he/they need to get out of my car….. For that I was falsely accused, called names etc. 4th time… Rider knew from Uber application who is the driver. He had option to cancel to avoid any issues but he/they proceeded to abuse, harass, belittle and provoke like kindergarten thugs."
