Cincinnati, Ohio Uber driver Abdelkadre Khamis Ahmat was attacked and his car vandalized by a belligerent rider. The passenger, Michael Winterman, now faces an arrest warrant and charges of ethnic intimidation, criminal damaging and disorderly conduct.
But after the incident, Ahmat said Uber locked his account. Now he doesn't know how he'll support his family.
The Cincinnati Police Department shared the warrant on social media.
On May 28 just before midnight, Winterman was picked up at a bar and taken to the neighborhood indicated on the Uber app. Rideshare apps require an address for drop off when the ride is requested.
However once in the area, Ahmat's GPS could not locate the exact home so he asked Winterman for directions. But he was unwilling to give Ahmat any assistance even though they were only a few blocks from his destination.
You can see local news coverage—including video recorded by Ahmat— here:
In response to Ahmat telling him he needed directions to his address, Winterman—who was described as highly intoxicated—called 911.
According to the 911 recordings, Winterman claimed Ahmat was threatening him.
He said he wouldn't exit the car until:
"I know where I'm at in the neighborhood."
Ahmat responded:
"Nobody is threatening you."
"Sir, you are intoxicated and you are cursing at me and I don't have to take you."
After several more minutes, Winterman exited the car and said:
"I hope the hell you get shot [n-word]."
Ahmat said Winterman then attacked his car.
When the driver got out, Winterman told Ahmat:
"Remember you are Black and I am White."
The driver said Winterman lunged to hit him in the shoulder, throwing himself off balance. The intoxicated man then fell, giving himself a bloody nose.
Court documents filed on May 31 state Winterman attempted to start a fight "while highly intoxicated" then attacked Ahmat's car in a "fit of rage."
According to the Uber driver:
"I was literally going, recording him around my car, and he was chasing me."
"I just don't want anything to do with this guy."
Nearby resident Sid Kennedy-Meguire, along with his roommates, witnessed the attack.
Kennedy-Meguire told Fox19 News:
"The Uber driver really wasn't able to get in the car because the guy kept charging at him, and he actually asked my roommate to drive the car out of the way for him, and my roommate went to get in the car, covered in this guy's blood."
"[Winterman] had been spitting it all over, wiping his hand all over his face and smearing blood all over this guy's car. So my roommate had to, like, sit in this guy's blood to move the car."
After his Uber account was suspended, Ahmat reached out to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Ohio.
At a press conference on June 8, they asked Uber to reinstate Ahmat's Uber account.
In an email after the press conference, Uber stated:
"This is the first we've seen of the video, and what is shown is appalling and unacceptable. Violence and discrimination have no place on the Uber platform."
"We've been attempting to reach out to the driver to get more information since the incident was first reported to us last month. We are reactivating the driver's account and the rider has been banned from Uber."
CAIR-Ohio is asking Uber to compensate Ahmat for lost revenue and pay to fix his car.
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