'It's Just Insane': Wife Speaks Out After Uber Driver Sijo George Brutally Attacked By Riders In Connecticut
DARIEN, Conn. (CBSNewYork) -- A 21-year-old Connecticut man is facing charges for allegedly attacking an Uber driver, and the disturbing incident was caught on camera.
As CBS2's Tony Aiello reported, the weekend attack on Uber driver Sijo George is difficult to listen to and watch.
It happened in a Darien, in neighborhood where many homes sell for well over $1 million.
The incident started in Stamford, where George picked up two men who asked to be dropped off at different destinations.
At the first stop, both men got out. When George asked if there was another stop, 21-year-old Shandaken Ford grew irate and reached inside the car.
"I can't watch, because it's heartbreaking," George's wife, Maria, said of the video showing the attack.
The couple lives in Stamford with their two children.
His wife said the attack, captured on the Uber dashboard camera, left her husband in pain and depressed.
"It's insane. It's just insane," she told Aiello. "I want to give the slightest benefit of the doubt that he just saw red for whatever reason, was not in his own mind."
"You have family. Is that what you want your mom to see?" she went on to say. "I can't wrap my head around it."
She said her husband's side gig as a vehicle-for-hire driver is over.
"Just the danger is too much," she said. "After this, it's not worth it."
Given the Uber app and dashboard camera, it wasn't difficult for Darien police to identify a suspect. They charged Ford with misdemeanor assault and breach of peace. He turned himself in Wednesday afternoon.
Ford's defense attorney Mark Sherman declined to discuss case specifics, but told Aiello his client is "deeply sorry and regretful for what happened that night." Sherman said his client plans on working quickly with the court to "make this hard-working man whole and try to begin a healing process for everyone involved."
