Moment wild-eyed woman viciously attacks NYC Uber driver with pepper spray 'because of his skin color'
Disturbing video footage has captured the moment a wild-eyed woman viciously attacked a New York City Uber driver with pepper spray allegedly 'because of his skin color.'
The alarming video, which has gone viral on social media, showed Jennifer Guilbeault, 23, unleashing pepper spray in an unprovoked attack on driver, 45-year-old Shohel Mahmud, during a late-night ride in Midtown Manhattan.
The attack occurred around 11:20 pm on Tuesday night near Lexington Avenue and East 66th Street.
The harrowing video shows Guilbeault stepping toward the driver's seat and unleashing the pepper spray on Mahmud.
Disturbing video footage has captured the moment a wild-eyed woman viciously attacked a New York City Uber driver with pepper spray allegedly 'because of his skin color.'
The alarming video, which has gone viral on social media, showed Jennifer Guilbeault, 23, unleashing pepper spray in an unprovoked attack on driver, 45-year-old Shohel Mahmud, during a late-night ride in Midtown Manhattan.
The attack occurred around 11:20 pm on Tuesday night near Lexington Avenue and East 66th Street.
The harrowing video shows Guilbeault stepping toward the driver's seat and unleashing the pepper spray on Mahmud.
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NewsTranscript
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.