A Lyft driver who says a passenger attacked him in Texas by choking him with his own seatbelt as he was driving him to his destination has filed a lawsuit against Lyft and the hospital where he picked up the passenger.
Driver Kehinde Ayoola said staff at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston requested the ride and helped the passenger to the vehicle in February of this year.
“He pulled my seatbelt and wrapped it around my neck, choking me. He was trying to kill me,” Ayoola told Fox 26.
The passenger, Ramiro Vella, was charged with Aggravated Assault in connection with the attack.
Ayoola explained the impact the violent attack has had on him since the incident, noting that he is now fearful of falling victim to another attack.
“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,” he said, adding that replays in his over and over again.
He said he has not picked up passengers since the incident because of his fears. He had been a rideshare driver for seven years.
“Because I’m always scared. Even if my grandson is sitting behind me in the car, I’m scared,” Ayoola said.
Ayoola said when he arrived at the hospital to pick up Vella, he observed the man standing with three hospital workers as he was fidgeting and behaving strangely.
“When I picked up that passenger in February, I talked to the staff, the Memorial Hermann staff,” he recalled. “I said ‘Hey what’s going on? Is this guy OK?’ They told me, they said, ‘Oh yes, it’s okay.’ I even asked the security guard, and he said, ‘yes, it’s okay.’”
Shortly after Vella entered his car, he started talking to himself before beating his chest and, at one point, slid over in the backseat to the seat behind Ayoola. The passenger then grabbed Ayoola’s seatbelt and wrapped it around the driver’s neck, according to Ayoola.
Ayoola attempted to put his fingers between his neck and the seatbelt, and was unable to unfasten his seatbelt. Vella then used his arm to put Ayoola in a chokehold.
The driver pulled his car over to the side of the road, and Vella kicked the back window until the frame popped out before kicking a dent into the back of the vehicle and opening the trunk, Ayoola said.
Investigators said Vella then ran to a house and began yelling and attempting to enter. The homeowner called 911 and Vella was arrested.
Ayoola is “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 Ogbeidet, told Fox 26.
“He expressed his concerns to Memorial Hermann staff, and they reassured him that Ramiro Vella would be OK,” Ogbeide added.
Ogbeide said Ayoola has experienced “very special damages. Not just loss of wages, not just medical bills, but his whole life turned upside down.”
Vella’s next court date is scheduled for Sept. 25.
