SAN FRANCISCO—On Thursday, October 15, Eve Batey reported that her Uber driver threatened he would rape and kill her.
In an account about the incident, Batey indicated she had just finished dinner with her colleagues near Church and Duboce when she called an Uber at approximately 10:00 p.m. Batey claimed “by 10:30, my Uber driver had announced that he was going to sexually assault and murder me.”
After Batey unsuccessfully tried to hail a taxi cab, she decided to Uber Pool. Her driver called her after four minutes and asked her, “I’m here, where are you?”
Batey replied, “I’m at 400 Duboce.”
The driver then said, “No you’re not, I’m at 400 Duboce Avenue and you’re not there. Where the f-ck are you? What kind of person isn’t there when they call an Uber?”
Batey was not comfortable with the interaction, and fearing her safety, she told the driver she would be cancelling her ride.
After Batey cancelled her ride, her phone rung again. She spotted a black sedan drive up to where she was standing before answering her phone.
Batey claims that the driver said, “How about I stick my d— in your p—y? I see you there! Look at me! I see you on your phone!” Batey responds, “I cancelled the ride!” The driver then slowly passed Batey.
According to Batey, after she hung up, the man called her again, and screamed “CANCEL THE RIDE! You f-cking b-tch, I’m going to find you, rape you, and kill you!” The victim told the perpetrator that she was calling the police, and hung up. The driver allegedly drove past her again, shouting at her.
The driver allegedly called her again and left her a voice message saying “Cancel the trip! Are you new to Uber? What kind of human are you? Cancel the trip so we can work! Why you disturbing people?”
Two officers from the San Francisco Police Department arrived at Batey’s location and took her report on the incident. Batey gave the police the man’s cell phone number and played the voice message and was given a case number.
Batey was charged $5.00 for canceling the trip due to Uber’s policy that the driver was already en route. The amount was refunded and Batey reported the incident to Uber’s safety department.
The driver’s information has been disabled, but police have not been able to identify the driver and make an arrest.
Batey is a senior editor for the San Francisco publication, The SFist. She has written a detailed account of the incident, and urges people to reconsider using Uber. “The next time you click on that little ‘U’ on your phone, think about this post. And maybe think about it again,” said Batey.
