A young woman who allegedly assaulted her Uber driver with pepper spray in Midtown this week said she did it because of his skin color, the driver claimed to The Post Saturday.
“Her friend, she is yelling, ‘Jen, Jen, what the f–k, what are you doing? What’s going on?’” driver Shohel Mahmud recalled of the Wednesdayattack. “Her friend is asking ‘Why did you do that?’ And she say, ‘He’s brown.’”
Jennifer Guilbeault, 23, was riding in the backseat with another woman at Lexington Avenue and East 66th Street around 11:30 p.m. when she suddenly sprayed the 45-year-old driver in the eyes with the noxious substance, video that circulated on Reddit, Instagram and YouTube showed.
Uber driver Shohel Mahmud said a passenger who pepper-sprayed him claimed that she did it because he is “brown.” James Keivom
A female Uber driver was hit with a Desk Appearance Ticket for assault, but the driver is calling attack a hate crime. Reddit
“Her friend, she is yelling, ‘Jen, Jen, what the f–k, what are you doing? What’s going on?’” driver Shohel Mahmud recalled of the Wednesdayattack Reddit
Mahmud said he picked up the women in Midtown and didn’t speak to them before the attack.
“They are talking to each other,” he said. “I’m not talking to them, my job is to drive them. I start going straight down the Central Park Traverse, straight down to 65th and Lexington. Suddenly, this girl for no reason spray me with pepper spray.”
The driver, who thought the women wanted to take his car and phone, jumped out after the attack began but the car kept moving at a slow speed so he hopped back inside, where she continued spraying him, he said.
The Queens resident said the incident was a hate crime. James Keivom
Surveillance video shows Jennifer Guilbeault pepper spraying driver Shohel Mahmud. Reddit
The woman attacked the driver after he picked up her and a friend in Midtown, he said. Reddit“I mean this is totally ridiculous,” he said. “I do nothing and she spray me. Pepper spray is illegal. She assault a driver for no reason. This is a hate crime.”
The 45-year-old driver, who lives in Elmhurst, Queens, called 911 but his attacker began to flee, he said.
“She try to escape,” he said. “But her friend she not going anywhere, she calling, ‘Jen, come over here.’ She go one block away, and police show up.”
The woman can be seen on video appearing to hold the driver’s arm during the attack. RedditGuilbeault was hit with a desk appearance ticket for assault and will have to appear in court at an unknown date, cops said. Police aren’t investigating the assault as a hate crime, a police spokesman said.
Mahmud told his family a little bit about the attack but it made his daughter very upset, he said. It’s also taking a toll on him.
“Mentally I’m not 100% OK, but I have to work,” said the driver. “I have three kids, my wife, my mother live with me.”
Mahmud said the attack has taken a toll on him mentally, but he has to keep working to provide for his family. James KeivomThe driver, whose children are 17, 14, and 1, wants to tell his attacker to treat people better.
“This is 21st century,” he said. “The world is smaller. People can work from anywhere, you can see video from anywhere.”
