Uber and Boston Police Department are working together after a rideshare driver was accused of dragging a woman down the street in a vehicle in South Boson.
Boston police responded to the incident, according to WCVB, which occurred in the area of 930 East 4th St. around 3 a.m. on Sunday.
The woman met with officers at the scene and reportedly explained that she left her phone in the Uber earlier in the night and asked for the driver to deliver it to her around East 4th St. During the exchange, the driver demanded cash payment, the woman reportedly told police, but she did not have any cash.
Riders are charged a $15 fee if a driver returns a lost item for them, but no cash should be exchanged for those transactions, according to Uber.
Then a verbal argument broke out, WCVB reported, and when the woman reached inside the car to retrieve her phone, the driver began to move the car toward P Street while she was still holding onto the vehicle.
Ed Booth, a Lyft driver, was in the area picking up passengers and saw the woman get dragged by the car before she eventually fell to the ground as the car continued to accelerate.
“They were talking in the window for a couple of seconds and then, all of a sudden, you saw the car take off with her still hanging in the window,” Booth told the TV station.
Another man, who was with the woman, chased the vehicle down, according to Booth, and a verbal argument broke out between him and the driver.
“Being a little nervous about what this guy was going to do, I locked the doors so that I was safe and my passengers were safe,” he reportedly said.
Boston police said that the Uber driver did eventually stop his vehicle and the woman was able to grab her phone, which had a cracked front screen, according to WCVB.
“What’s been described is unacceptable and in clear violation of our community guidelines,” Uber told the TV station in a statement. “We have been in touch with both the rider and driver and will take appropriate action.”
Booth said he checked on the woman after the Uber driver left.
“She was just sitting on the ground with her head down and her hands over her head, and I think dazed and confused about what just happened,” Booth told WCVB.
The woman had pain in her right cheek and officers saw minor swelling in the area, police said, adding that the woman did not want treatment from Boston Emergency Medical Services.
No charges have been filed thus far in connection with the incident.
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