Chiddi Stober, a Georgia history teacher who works as an Uber driver part time, says that he was assaulted and called the n-word by a passenger who works as a lecturer at a local state university, WSBTV reports.
Stober said the ride began normally. He picked up the passenger—whose name is being withheld because he has yet to be charged—from a bar, but then, toward the end of the ride, the customer became “unruly” and did not want to get out of Stober’s car.
The situation was getting out of hand, so much so that Stober called 911, since the verbal thrashing, he said, “was getting from bad to worse.”
During the 911 call, the customer can be heard using expletives to curse out Stober, as well as racist epithets like the n-word. The customer can be heard telling Stober “to go back to slavery, man.”
Stober said the attack then got violent.
“That’s the point where he hit me. He reached forward; he was sitting right behind me. That’s the point where he hit me, right then,” said Stober.
After the incident, Stober said, he did a little digging and found out that the customer lectures students on business at Kennesaw State University.
Stober says he is shocked and doesn’t understand why the attack happened. “I couldn’t understand why a person who doesn’t even know me could be using such kind of language,” he said.
Uber got wind of the incident and the 911 call and is backing its driver—whom the company refers to as one of its “partners.”
“This rider’s behavior was absolutely despicable and we apologize to our valued partner for having to endure such unacceptable treatment,” an Uber statement read. Uber said that it has banned the customer from using Uber and is willing to assist law enforcement if requested.
Jill Polster, a lawyer for the customer, said that after her client heard the things he had said in the 911 call, the customer felt ashamed.
“When made aware of the statements made by him as heard on the recorder, [he] was mortified,” Polster said in a statement. “He is deeply ashamed and sorry for the derogatory language he used towards Mr. Stober during the episode.”
Read more at WSBTV.