Authorities in Florida have arrested and charged an Uber driver accused of pulling a gun on a Miami rapper and another female passenger during a May 12 incident in Hollywood.
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, one of the passengers involved in the incident was identified as Krissy Celess, a Miami rapper who goes by the stage name, Bomb Ass Krissy.
Authorities said the driver, identified as 23-year-old Jennifer Benitez, was arrested on Saturday, May 17, NBC 6 South Florida reported. Hollywood Police said she has since been charged with aggravated assault with a firearm.
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An arrest affidavit stated that on May 12, one of the two female passengers requested an Uber to take her to her Hollywood apartment, and Benitez ultimately picked them up in Miami. But the customer claimed that Benitez was “hostile and rude from the beginning of the ride,” adding that when they were nearing her apartment complex, she informed the suspect that the location was on the left, per the affidavit. But Benitez is said to have gotten upset and said “I know, that’s why I have a GPS” before she turned left in an “aggressive” manner.
The customer said that after she reacted to Benitez’s behavior, the driver stopped the vehicle before they reached their destination and ordered her and the other passenger to get out, per the affidavit.
The affidavit also stated that an argument subsequently ensued and Benitez pulled the gun on them. The incident was filmed by the customer, and a portion of that video showed Benitez pulling the gun on them.
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In the video, the female driver is initially heard appearing to tell one of the passengers that she’s harassing her.
“I’m not harassing you,” the passenger responds before the driver starts screaming at the passengers and repeatedly ordering them to get out of her vehicle. After one of the passengers says “she got them crazy eyes,” the driver is then seen pointing a gun at them and telling them to get out.
The driver is then seen driving off after the passengers exit the vehicle. In the wake of the incident, Celess signalled her intention to file a lawsuit against Uber. She also told WSVN that their back-and-forth went downhill after she tried to give the driver directions.
“I said, ‘Hey, the turn is right here. You’re going to make a left.’ And she was in the middle lane and she was like, ‘Oh, you don’t have to tell me. That’s what I have a GPS for,’ It just escalated so quickly,” she recalled.
Celess also said she felt the driver got upset after she made the comment about her “crazy eyes.”
Uber said they have since removed Benitez’s access to the app. “This is extremely concerning. We removed the driver’s access to the app and are continuing to investigate,” an Uber spokesperson said in a statement.
