Police: Lyft driver attacked by bicyclist while stuck in traffic in Midtown Manhattan

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Thursday, January 24, 2019
Police: Uber driver attacked by bicyclist while stuck in traffic in Midtown Manhattan
Jim Dolan has the latest on an attack against an Uber driver in Midtown.

MIDTOWN, Manhattan -- Police are searching for the suspect who assaulted a Lyft driver while he was stopped in traffic in Midtown Manhattan.

The incident happened Jan. 18 in the vicinity of East 40th Street and Fifth Avenue. A bicyclist and the for-hire vehicle were both going south on Fifth when the bicyclist started banging on the car window.

When the driver turned on 40th Street and got stuck in traffic, police say the attacker used a bicycle lock to smash the front windshield and rear window of the 23-year-old man's car.

When the driver stepped out of his car to avoid the shattered glass from the windshield, the suspect struck him in the head and back with the bicycle lock, investigators said.

After the driver managed to get away, the man climbed on top of the car, screamed and stomped over the roof and hood before he jumped off and fled the scene on a black and green bicycle. There were never any words exchanged between the two.

The victim was treated and released from a nearby hospital.

Police describe the suspect as a black male with long dreads; last seen wearing a gray hooded sweater, a black jacket, black sweatpants, black sneakers and he had on a black backpack.