Uber’s had its fair share of high-profile driver crimes over the years, and this weekend added one more to that ignominious list: an Uber driver in Michigan stabbed his passenger multiple times early Saturday because he felt his vehicle was “disrespected,” police officials say.
Jacob Allemon, 23, was charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, after police say he stabbed a man who was heading home with his wife from a holiday party.
Police in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, discovered the Allemon and the 49-year-old victim in the parking lot of a shopping center around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, fighting in the back seat of a 2012 Honda Civic. The victim was discovered with multiple stab wounds to his chest, face and back.
A preliminary investigation indicated that the victim and his wife requested an Uber ride home from a holiday party, according to a news release from Bloomfield Township police. Allemon accepted the request and picked the pair up. When he arrived, police say, the victim tapped on the window to alert Allemon they were about to enter the vehicle.
“Allemon felt his vehicle was disrespected when the victim tapped on the window,” the release says.
Allemon drove a mile before pulling into a shopping center parking lot, before ordering the victim out of his Civic. The victim, police say, asked if they could wait for another ride, as the metro Detroit region was being hit by a steady snow for the second time that week. That, according to police, is apparently what set Allemon off.
“An altercation ensued and during the altercation Allemon stabbed the victim multiple times,” the news release says. “The victim was able to disarm Allemon and restrain him until police arrived.”
The victim was treated and transported to a local hospital, where he was released the following day.
The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office filed a charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder against Allemon, who was arraigned on Sunday. His next court date is pending.
A message was left with Uber seeking comment.
For Michigan, the incident this weekend sticks out. Earlier this year, an Uber driver in the city of Kalamazoo, shot and killed six people during a seemingly random rampage across town, where he picked up passengers in between killings. That driver, Jason Dalton, was charged with murder, and his case remains pending
This weekend also saw a separate incident in Florida, where a driver fatally shot a man Sunday morning during an alleged armed robbery.
Update: A spokesperson for Uber, Kayla Whaling, told Jalopnik that the ride-sharing company is cooperating with police and Allemon has since been banned from the app.
“What has been described here is appalling,” she said.
Whaling declined to release Allemon’s driver rating, citing company policy, and said she’s “not aware” of any past incidents being reported. Uber previously released the rating for Dalton, the Kalamazoo shooter, but Whaling said, “From a privacy perspective, we don’t provide that information.”
“There are times we have in the past, but from a privacy side, we don’t typically provide that information,” she said.