A prominent Washington rabbi says a Lyft driver kicked him out of the car on his way home from morning prayers on Sunday, January 28, 2024. The young rabbi claims the driver violently attacked him after kicking him out. “He was not able to give any reason other than ‘my energy,'” Menachem Shemtov, the 29-year-old leader of Chabad Georgetown, said.
Shemtov recounted the experience in an interview while heading to a care facility to treat the cuts on his face. He said the Lyft driver demanded he leave the car. Videos of the incident, taken by both Shemtov and witnesses, give credence to Shemtov’s claims.
The video shows the driver punching and hitting the rabbi with a set of keys. Following the assault, a police report shows the attacker fled the scene. However, the report described his vehicle as a red Toyota sedan bearing the Maryland license plate 3FR1602.
According to Shemtov, the car was the one he ordered. However, the 29-year-old rabbi said he believes the man who assaulted him was not the person who was supposed to pick him up. After the incident, Shemtov looked at the Lyft ride details again.
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Then, he saw that the driver who agreed to take him home looked significantly older than his attacker. In addition, Shemtov noted he hailed the ride around 10:15 a.m. He added that he called the Lyft from a Chabad center in Adams Morgan to his home in Georgetown.
While recounting the experience, Shemtov said he asked whether the driver could reduce the volume of the music. However, he said the driver turned it off instead. “He made a passive-aggressive comment about how I should book a quiet car next time,” Shemtov said.
“Then 20 seconds later, he said, ‘Get out of my car,'” Shemtov told the authorities. The 29-year-old rabbi said he asked for the driver’s reason, and the driver’s reply shocked him. “I don’t like your energy,” the driver yelled. “Your energy is kind of offending me.”
As a result, Shemtov got out of the car. However, footage from the scene shows the driver following him on foot. Also, the driver yelled at Shemtov for slamming the car door and punched him in the face. When the rabbi moved to take pictures of the car, the Lyft driver followed him and slapped him repeatedly with his keys.
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The assault left cuts across Shemtov’s face. But the rabbi claims he did not fight back. “I didn’t engage with him; I didn’t fight,” Shemtov said. “This is the most aggressive thing to happen to me.” After the footage of the incident went viral, Lyft condemned the act and called out the driver.
A Lyft spokeswoman said the company “deactivated the driver” after learning of the incident. Furthermore, the company claimed it had contacted Shemtov. “Lyft unequivocally condemns this behavior,” the spokesperson said.
“Upon learning of this incident, we deactivated the driver, and we’ve been in touch with the rider.” The spokesperson concluded, “We encourage riders and drivers to report harassment, discrimination, or safety concerns in the Lyft app.” The police are investigating the incident but have not classified it as a hate crime.
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