Lyft driver attacked for denying service to passengers who did not have car seats for small children
WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - A Lyft driver is recovering from his injuries after he says two passengers attacked him after he denied them service in the District.
The driver says he refused the ride because the passengers didn’t have car seats for their small children.
Masood Ahmad was driving his car for Lyft when he answered a pickup request in a Home Depot parking lot in Northeast Washington on Thursday afternoon just after 5:30 p.m.
He arrived and quickly realized his passengers had small children with them. He says the passengers didn’t have car seats with them.
According to Lyft’s company policy, children must “have the proper car seats that fit legal requirements in your state and city.” Passengers are required to provide their own car seats for children who need them.
Ahmad tried to explain that to the passengers to no avail.
In a video filmed by Ahmad, you can see the point where the interaction between Ahmad and the passengers starts to escalate.
When Ahmad confronts the female passenger, he is met with violent blows to the head from the male passenger.
Ahmad then throws a water bottle at the passengers in defense.
“They had two babies with them. I did not try to do anything crazy so the baby gets hurt," said Ahmad.
When Ahmad tries to leave, he is met with one last act of aggression.
“This girl ran the cart toward my car and damage the door," said Ahmad.
Ahmad called the police and filed an incident report.
FOX 5 contacted Lyft who says they are ready to work with law enforcement about this issue.
The rideshare company released a statement saying “safety is fundamental to Lyft. The rider’s access to Lyft has been permanently removed.”
As for Ahmad, he says he hopes his attackers can learn from this incident.
“You never do this to anyone and you had your children with you and they were watching you like just imagine like what these children are going to learn from this," said Ahmad.
Ahmad says his car suffered around $1,300 worth of damage.
He has bruises all over his head but says he will be okay.
There has been no word from DC Police about the suspects at this time.