Lyft driver allegedly robbed, assaulted in OKC, says rider threatened to shoot her
A Lyft driver said she was robbed and assaulted before her rider threatened to shoot her in west Oklahoma City.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - A Lyft driver said she was robbed and assaulted before her rider threatened to shoot her in west Oklahoma City.
The Lyft driver told KFOR she picked up a rider from the Apex Apartment complex. Shortly after, things took a turn for the worse.
“Never will I ever drive for anybody. Nobody. Not DoorDash, not Lyft, not Uber. Nope,” said Renee Martin.
Martin said the suspect punched her from behind the driver's seat eight to 12 times before they even left the parking lot.
She said the woman then stole her wallet and phone before threatening to shoot her.
“She says, 'I got a gun. Either get out of here or I'm going to shoot you',” said Martin.
Martin said it all started when she cancelled the ride after getting into an argument with the rider.
“The smell of marijuana was overwhelming. So, I said to her, 'look, it’s a confined space, I'm going to roll the windows down. I don't mean to be rude.' And then she started screaming at me, ‘I have a marijuana card I can smoke and do whatever I want.’ And I said, ‘Well, ma'am, maybe it would be best if I just canceled the ride, and you could get another driver.’ So, I hit the cancel button on my phone and then all of a sudden she starts punching me in the side of the head,” said Martin.
Oklahoma City Police are still looking for the suspect and recommend drivers have cameras in their car, so it is easier to identify the suspect.
“Obviously, this is someone who we want to get identified. We've yet to make any arrests in the case. If you have information, we want to hear from you through Crime Stoppers,” said Dillon Quirk Assistant PIO with Oklahoma City Police Department.
Martin said Lyft has not been helpful through the terrifying experience and claims her account has been put on hold.
“Even the police officers tried to get a hold of their safety team on Tuesday night, they couldn't get a hold of anybody... She only had an initial for a name on Lyft. So, I don't understand why Lyft drivers have to have background checks, but riders can use fictitious names,” said Martin.
Martin said her phone was sold at a nearby Walmart, so police are working on getting that back for her.
She's also headed to Oklahoma City Police headquarters Tuesday afternoon for a police lineup.
KFOR reached out to Lyft for a comment, a spokesperson said quote, “The behavior described has no place on the Lyft platform. As soon as we became aware of this incident, we permanently removed the rider’s account from the Lyft community. We also reached out to law enforcement to offer our support with any investigation.” - Lyft Spokesperson