A Dallas Uber driver was caught on video punching a 68-year-old passenger in the back of his head after he complained about the lack of legroom in the car.
Suleman Gauba and his wife were in the Design District on Wednesday when he called an Uber to take them to a local Walmart. Gauba reportedly told the driver that he could not sit in the back seat because there was not enough legroom, per Fox 4 KDFW.
According to Gauba, the driver told him he was canceling the ride and told the couple to exit the vehicle. The surveillance footage from a nearby hotel shows Gauba and the driver stepping out of the car at the same time. As Gauba began walking toward the back of the car, the driver punched him in the head, knocking him to the ground.
“I was thinking, you know, what’s happened with me? Why [did] he hit me?” Gauba told Fox 4.
Gauba’s wife then told the driver she was calling the cops.
The Uber driver left the scene before the police arrived and has not been located.
This is not the first time a local rideshare driver has made headlines this summer. In August, an Arlington rideshare driver kidnapped his passenger and forced them to drive 1,300 miles to Miami, Florida, as reported by The Dallas Express.
One month earlier, a Garland Uber driver was arrested on July 15 for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old rider.
The Uber driver’s assault on Gauba last week occurred in District 6, represented by Councilmember Omar Narvaez. District 6 has recorded the most simple assaults this year of all 14 districts, with 9,202 as of October 6, according to the City of Dallas crime analytics dashboard.
Citywide, 11,730 simple assaults have been reported so far this year, making it the most reported crime in the City. This figure does not include the 4,708 aggravated assaults with a deadly weapon that have also been reported this year.
The Dallas Police Department has been hindered in its efforts to manage crime in the City because of a chronic shortage of police officers and a budget far below other high-crime jurisdictions. The current number of sworn officers in the DPD is roughly 3,000, which falls short of the City’s 2015 recommendation of 4,000 officers. This shortage of police officers contributes to longer response times for emergency calls, as previously reported by DX.
City leaders approved a $5.3 billion budget for the fiscal year 2024-2025, which began in October. The new budget includes an increase in funding for the DPD. The DPD’s budget rose from $657 million last year to $719 million, representing a nearly 10% boost. However, despite being woefully short of officers, the goal is to add only 2% more uniformed police officers this year.