Lyft driver attacked by lawn care worker using weed trimmer

“I didn’t think it was real at first,” the driver said. “It looked kind of like he was joking because he was laughing at me when he did it.” “I’ll wake up in the middle of the night thinking it wasn’t real, but it really happened,” Jordan Proffitt said. “I mean it’s surreal.” For Jordan Proffitt, his nightmare moment was not a dream – capturing part of it on video. He said Wednesday morning, a lawn care worker attacked him, hitting him with a lawn trimmer “I didn’t think it was real at first,” he said. “It looked kind of like he was joking because he was laughing at me when he did it.” Proffitt, who works as a Lyft driver, was picking up a passenger on Patio Drive near Iroquois Park Wednesday morning. He said he pulled into a driveway of a home that his Lyft app had directed him to pick up his ride, where a man was working on the law using a trimmer. While he was waiting for his passenger, Proffitt said a rock was thrown from the trimmer, hitting his windshield and leaving a crack. “He said sorry. He mouthed that,” he said. “And then he started laughing and I said, ‘Thanks,’ sarcastically. And then he threatened me and he started yelling profanities at me.” According to Proffitt, at one point, the man flicked his cigarette at him. He said once his passenger came out of her house – which was actually the house next to the driveway he was parked in – and got in his car, he got out of his car to take a photo of the man’s truck so he could contact the lawn care company later. That’s when he started recording the interaction, which appears to show the man hitting Proffitt with the trimmer. “I was not ready for this fight,” he said. “I did not plan on engaging and getting in the fight. I was not planning on having a weed-eater put in my face.” He said the man hit him in the face with the trimmer and then fell on top of him, dislocating his shoulder and injuring his elbow. Proffitt said he was able to get away and then asked his passenger to call 911. He said he wants other rideshare drivers to learn from his experience and to check with their passengers to make sure the app is sending them to the right location. As for the lawn care worker, despite Proffitt’s injuries, he said he holds no ill will towards him. “I forgive him. I hope that he doesn’t hurt anybody else,” he said. “People make mistakes. I’ll be praying for him and his family.” In a statement, a Lyft spokesperson wrote, “The incident described is troubling and upsetting. Lyft takes the safety of our community incredibly seriously, and we have reached out to both the driver and passenger to offer our support. We stand ready to assist law enforcement with their investigation.” Proffitt said he has filed a report with an LMPD officer. LMPD said police investigate all reports that have been taken.

~source