00:00But first, a PIX11 exclusive, an Uber ride in Manhattan, taking a terrifying turn for
00:06the driver.
00:07A passenger right there is suddenly pepper spraying him.
00:10The attack caught on camera.
00:11Yeah, this video is difficult to watch.
00:13Tonight, the victim is speaking out only to PIX11, and he believes that this was racially
00:18motivated, but the woman is denying it.
00:21So what are police saying?
00:22Our Anthony DiLorenzo has the exclusive story.
00:27We obtained and reviewed three minutes of dash camera video from a 10-minute Uber ride
00:33that the driver says was otherwise unremarkable, until it wasn't.
00:42It's Wednesday night, nearing 1130 on the Upper East Side.
00:46Uber driver Shohel Mahmoud is on the phone, while his passengers, Jennifer Gilbo and a
00:50friend are quietly sitting in the back.
00:53And suddenly, 90 seconds into this dash camera video, police say, unprovoked, the 23-year-old
01:02attacks Mahmoud and pepper sprays him in the face.
01:10Only mumbling.
01:17In my whole face, it's like burning last two hours.
01:20I thought they're going to be trying to hijack my car.
01:22We spoke exclusively with that driver back to work Friday night.
01:26Her and the people like her, this is not the right way to treat people.
01:33NYPD officers arrested Gilbo on the scene and charged her with assault.
01:37Why do you do that?
01:42While neither the department or the DA are currently charging this as a bias attack,
01:46the Bangladeshi father of three believes it is because of his skin color.
01:50What I figured out, I finally see the video, is for my body color.
01:57In a statement, the taxi workers union told us, quote, this is such a gross, racist, violent
02:02attack.
02:03The DA needs to prosecute using both anti-hate crime and taxi driver protection laws.
02:08Uber, meantime, told PIX11 News the young woman has been banned from the app, saying
02:13the rider's actions shown in the video are deplorable.
02:17Violence is not tolerated.
02:19When we reached out to Gilbo for comment, her family denied it being a hate crime, but
02:23had no other explanation.
02:25The district attorney's office says that young woman is due in court for an arraignment on
02:30that misdemeanor assault charge later this month.
02:34I'm Anthony DeLorenzo, PIX11 News.
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