The Lyft driver accused of giving a San Diego woman and her friends a terrifying ride says her story is fake.
RELATED | Local woman says nightmare Lyft ride included profanity laced rants, heart-stopping moments
Daniel didn't want to use his last name or go on camera, but spoke with 10News over the phone. He says he remembers picking the group of friends up late Saturday night.
"I could tell that they were excited and partying and, you know, they smelled like alcohol," he said.
His version of what happened next is different than the version told my a woman, who was one of his passengers.
"I thought he was going to pull out a gun or something and shoot me, that's how insane he was acting," the woman said.
She told 10News Daniel cursed at them, unbuckled their seat belts and slammed on his brakes trying to hurt them before dumping them by the side of the road.
Daniel says the trouble started when someone spilled white powder all over his seats.
"Some of it was mixed with like fluid so it looked like gloppy and ploppy, like almost like vomit," Daniel said. "So that's when I said 'there's probably going to be a $200 cleaning fee for this' because like I thought it was throw up."
He claims the group got upset, then even more rowdy, so he decided to terminate the ride for his safety.
“The person, the shotgun, didn’t want to get out. So I unbuckled his seat belt and said ‘can you get out please?’ and he didn’t,” Daniel said. "After I got out of the car, and he locked the door, and I unlocked it and said 'you need to get out.' And he said ' no, we're good.' And I said 'the ride's over, get the f**** out.'"
Daniel said that's the only time he cursed at them.
“I put my hand on his shoulder and I said ‘can you please get out?’ and at that point I said ‘the ride’s over,’” he said.
He also says some members of the group acted like they were going to jump in front of his car, and they gave him the finger as he drove away.
"It's embellished," Daniel said. "It's kind of embarrassing. Because I, you know, I'm like 'that's really not how it happened.'"
Daniel says he drove full-time for Lyft and Uber, but now he's banned from both apps.
The woman says the group never got a cleaning fee, but received a $75 ride credit.
A Lyft spokesperson declined to comment.
