A Lyft driver who says a passenger attacked him in Texas by choking him together with his personal seatbelt as he was driving him to his vacation spot has filed a lawsuit towards Lyft and the hospital the place he picked up the passenger.
Driver Kehinde Ayoola stated workers at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston requested the experience and helped the passenger to the car in February of this yr.
“He pulled my seatbelt and wrapped it around my neck, choking me. He was trying to kill me,” Ayoola instructed Fox 26.
The passenger, Ramiro Vella, was charged with Aggravated Assault in reference to the assault.
LYFT DRIVER SAYS PASSENGER CHOKED HIM WITH HIS OWN SEATBELT IN TEXAS: ‘HE WAS TRYING TO KILL ME’
A Lyft driver who says a passenger choked him together with his personal seatbelt filed a lawsuit towards Lyft and the hospital the place he picked up the passenger. (Getty)
Ayoola defined the affect the violent assault has had on him for the reason that incident, noting that he’s now afraid of falling sufferer to a different assault.
“Just like we’re sitting here, if someone tries to pass behind me, I’m always, so scared, you know. I see it always. Every day,” he stated, including that replays in his over and over.
He stated he has not picked up passengers for the reason that incident due to his fears. He had been a rideshare driver for seven years.
“Because I’m always scared. Even if my grandson is sitting behind me in the car, I’m scared,” Ayoola stated.
Ayoola stated when he arrived on the hospital to select up Vella, he noticed the person standing with three hospital staff as he was fidgeting and behaving surprisingly.
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The passenger, Ramiro Vella, was charged with Aggravated Assault in reference to the assault. (Getty)
“When I picked up that passenger in February, I talked to the staff, the Memorial Hermann staff,” he recalled. “I said ‘Hey what’s going on? Is this guy OK?’ They told me, they said, ‘Oh yes, it’s okay.’ I even asked the security guard, and he said, ‘yes, it’s okay.'”
Shortly after Vella entered his automobile, he began speaking to himself earlier than beating his chest and, at one level, slid over within the backseat to the seat behind Ayoola. The passenger then grabbed Ayoola’s seatbelt and wrapped it across the driver’s neck, in keeping with Ayoola.
Ayoola tried to place his fingers between his neck and the seatbelt, and was unable to unfasten his seatbelt. Vella then used his arm to place Ayoola in a chokehold.
The motive force pulled his automobile over to the facet of the street, and Vella kicked the again window till the body popped out earlier than kicking a dent into the again of the car and opening the trunk, Ayoola stated.
Investigators stated Vella then ran to a home and commenced yelling and making an attempt to enter. The house owner referred to as 911 and Vella was arrested.
Ayoola stated he has not picked up passengers for the reason that incident due to his fears of one other assault. (Picture Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Photographs/LightRocket )
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Ayoola is “an innocent, hardworking man that was simply trying to complete a Lyft journey that was ordered, supervised, and called for by Memorial Hermann Hospital, and he ended up being attacked,” Ayoola’s Lawyer, Osayuki Ogbeidet, instructed Fox 26.
“He expressed his concerns to Memorial Hermann staff, and they reassured him that Ramiro Vella would be OK,” Ogbeide added.
Ogbeide stated Ayoola has skilled “very particular damages. Not simply lack of wages, not simply medical payments, however his entire life turned the other way up.”
Vella’s subsequent court docket date is scheduled for Sept. 25.
