A North Bay woman is recovering on Wednesday night after she says she was brutally attacked by a rideshare driver.

She tells KRON4’s Hermela Aregawi what led up to this horrifying incident.

The victim Erica tells KRON4 the driver had his headphones in his ears and didn’t appear to hear her throughout the ride.

She says when he took yet another wrong turn, she tried to get his attention by snapping her fingers and that’s when she says he went into a rage.

She says the Uber ride turned violent.

“I get in the car like I always do,” Erica said. “I say, ‘Hello,’ you know, ‘How are you?’ I noticed he has both of his earphones on.”

Erica says she was going from Vallejo to her job in San Francisco last Thursday around 8:30 a.m. It was just one of the multiple ride-shares she takes on an average day.

But she says this one wasn’t like any other.

“He takes the wrong freeway exit,” Erica said. “I tried to get his attention then, but of course, he couldn’t hear me then because he had his earphones on. We’re driving, driving, driving, and we get to where the GPS is telling him to turn and he doesn’t turn. So, I finally get his attention. I had to snap my fingers to get his attention. That’s when he went off, ‘Don’t ever snap your f’n fingers in front of me and just get the f out, and then I know, next thing I know, I’m getting punched in my mouth. He just turned around, reached back, and started punching me.”

Erica called 911 and so did the driver, who she says claimed she broke his glasses.

According to her, the police suggested they do a citizen’s arrest since they were both claiming being attacked.

She went to her job as a courier afterward but ended up in the ER after feeling ill.

According to medical records, she suffered a sprained neck, contusion in her mouth, and a loose tooth.

“I still have pain here in my jaws, and it’s radiating down to my neck back here and my back,” Erica said.

KRON4 reached out to Uber.

In a statement, the company says, “What the rider reported is deeply troubling. We immediately removed the driver’s access to the app and will take the appropriate action.”

According to Erica, she and the driver have a civil court case set for late September.

She’s been out of work for five days now and doesn’t know when she’ll be able to return.

Uber tells KRON4 they are still investigating the incident.

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