A Texas Lyft driver, who accused a passenger of choking him with his seatbelt on Valentine’s Day, has filed a lawsuit against the latter as well as the rideshare company and the hospital whose staff ordered the ride.
In an interview with FOX 26 Houston, Lyft driver Kehinde Ayoola said he drove to the Memorial Hermann Hospital on the said date to pick up the passenger after staff ordered the ride. Ayoola, who had worked as a rideshare driver for seven years, said the hospital staff assisted the passenger in boarding his car.
But he alleged that the passenger, identified as Ramiro Vella, later became violent. “He pulled my seatbelt and wrapped it around my neck, choking me. He was trying to kill me,” Ayoola recalled in a previous interview with the news outlet.
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“Just like we’re sitting here, if someone tries to pass behind me, I’m always, so scared, you know. I see it always. Every day. (You see it replaying over and over again?) Yes,” he said in reference to how the alleged attack has impacted him.
“He’s an innocent, hardworking man that was simply trying to complete a Lyft journey that was ordered, supervised, and called for by Memorial Hermann Hospital, and he ended up being attacked,” Ayoola’s Attorney, Osayuki Ogbeide, also said.
“When I picked up that passenger in February, I talked to the staff, the Memorial Hermann staff. I said ‘Hey what’s going on? Is this guy OK?’ They told me, they said, ‘Oh yes, it’s ok.’ I even asked the security guard, and he said, ‘yes, it’s OK. (And you asked if he was OK because of the way he was acting and moving around a lot?) Yes, because the way he was behaving,” Ayoola told the news outlet.
Ogbeide also said Ayoola “expressed his concerns to Memorial Hermann staff, and they reassured him that Ramiro Vella would be OK.” But that was reportedly not the case as Ayoola claimed Vella “had been talking to himself” and also “started beating his chest” before he exited his car.
Ayoola said he currently has issues with picking up passengers as a result of the incident, FOX 26 Houston reported. “Because I’m always scared. Even if my grandson is sitting behind me in the car, I’m scared,” he said.
Ogbeide also said that Ayoola has “experienced very special damages. Not just loss of wages, not just medical bills, but his whole life turned upside down.”
Responding to the incident in a statement, a Memorial Hermann spokesperson said that the hospital “is unable to comment on pending litigation.” Lyft was yet to respond to the news outlet at the time of this report.
Vella, who was arrested in the wake of the incident, has since been charged with aggravated assault. He has a court date set for September 25.
