BLACKSBURG, Va. – Terrifying moments for a Blacksburg Uber driver as he was followed and attacked after he dropped off his passenger.
Uber driver Andy Earthman is a lifelong professional driver. He’s seen a lot but is still stunned by what happened Dec.19th, when he was attacked while dropping off a passenger.
I’ve driven I don’t know how many hundreds of thousands of miles and I’ve never experienced anything like this," Earthman said.
Earthman was attacked by another driver who believed he was cut off. He captured it all on his dashcam.
“I was in complete flight mode,” said Earthman. “I was cowering in my car trying to get away. I’m almost 60 years old. I weigh 170 [pounds], this guy was closer to 300 [pounds] and half my age.”
Uber
Earthman took me back on his route that day
“Nowadays when you’re traveling down[Price’s Fork] there is a lot of traffic making left turns back there, right here, so I usually hang in this lane until I get up there,” said Earthman. “Right about here, I saw I wasn’t really having any room to get over. Like I’m doing 40 [miles per hour], this guy is coming up fast behind me, so I gunned it right here to get over in front of traffic to make this left turn. I actually apologized to my passenger.”
After that, Earthman was followed for almost a mile until he was confronted by the driver of the car while dropping off his passenger.
“I had no idea till I reviewed the camera,” Earthman said.
That is when the attack started.
“Started pulling out, saw the guy, brought my window down, and it just, you know,” said Earthman. “I tried to pull out and he hit my car. He had an arm in this door preventing me from closing it and an arm right here. I got another picture of the front of his car and I got back in and he just punched me in the face. I cowered down like this and he grabbed me and tried to pull me from my car repeatedly.”
After escaping, Earthman said he called the Blacksburg Police Department, but said since then, he’s been left with no answers.
“I believe he needs to be prosecuted,” said Earthman. “He needs to be arrested and prosecuted, and I need to know who he is so I can secure a restraining order.”
I reached out to the Blacksburg Police Department who confirmed there is an active investigation but declined to comment further.
Earthman said since the attack, he has stopped driving for Uber.
You can watch a condensed version of the incident here: