Video: Uber Driver Accused Of Attacking Customers With Ice Scraper

By Mae Rice in News on Dec 16, 2015 10:33PM

It’s not even frosty out yet, but that did not stop an Uber driver from attacking two women with an ice scraper Tuesday. The driver, 37-year-old Chieh Wang, was charged with two counts of misdemeanor battery and one count of misdemeanor criminal damage to property, the latter for shattering one woman’s phone screen, according to a police statement.

The women originally requested a ride from the 200 block of East Grand Avenue, and their driver, 37-year-old Chieh Wang, arrived at about 6 p.m., according to the police statement. When Wang arrived, however, only one of the women was ready to leave. Wang refused to wait and left the scene, but returned shortly afterwards, got out of his car, and began to strike the women with an ice scraper.

This YouTube video allegedly documents the beginning of the attack:

The two women—Kourtney Wilson, 29, and Toni Sanders, 32—spoke to the Tribune about their ordeal. Their rental car was towed while they were at Winter WonderFest at Navy Pier, they said; once they realized it was gone, they ducked into the Grand Avenue Whole Foods and called an Uber.

After Wang refused the ride, Wilson told the Tribune that he returned, pulled a roughly two-foot-long ice scraper from his trunk, and began to hit her and Sanders with it. Wilson reported that Wang bruised her arm, cut through her clothes, and scratched her back.

Wang was arrested after passersby called 911; according to the police statement, he has a court date scheduled for 9 a.m. on Jan. 15.

“I didn’t attack her,” he told the Tribune, also claiming that the YouTube video is “only part of the story.”

"This type of behavior is unacceptable and is not tolerated,” Uber spokesperson Kayla Whaling told Chicagoist. “As soon as we were aware of this incident, we immediately removed this driver's access to Uber. We will provide any information to local law enforcement as needed for their investigation."