By COLlive reporter
Lyft ride-hailing service has let go of the driver who attacked Rabbi Menachem Shemtov, Director of Chabad of Georgetown, in a violent altercation on Sunday morning.
The 29-year-old Shemtov entered the vehicle after davening at TheShul of American Friends of Lubavitch in Washington, DC.
“I asked him to lower the music; he turned it off completely,” Shemtov told the media. “We turned the corner (onto Connecticut Avenue), and he said he doesn’t like my energy. (He) called me weird, and I got out, and for whatever reason, he then followed me, too, to punch me in the face and continue beating me.”
The assault on the Chabad rabbi was captured on video both by Shemtov and a bystander. The driver held a car key in his hand while punching Shemtov in the face. Shemtov went to be treated at a clinic for a gash to his face.
Despite Shemtov wearing a yarmulke and suspecting a connection to his Judaism, D.C. police are not treating the incident as a hate crime, it was reported.
The driver then fled the area. “I really don’t see what it is to defend anything right there, especially when you leave the scene and flee right afterwards,” Shemtov said.
In a statement to NBC Washington, Lyft says it identified the driver.
“Lyft unequivocally condemns this behavior,” the statement says. “Upon learning of this incident, we deactivated the driver, and we’ve been in touch with the rider. We encourage riders and drivers to report harassment, discrimination, or safety concerns in the Lyft app.”
Police have not made an arrest.
Shemtov is the son of Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch, and the grandson of Rabbi Avraham Shemtov, the Rebbe’s Shliach to the White House and Chairman of Aguas Chassidei Chabad International.
VIDEO:
Check on the Lyft app. There’s a quick way to call 911 in the event of an emergency
Quicker than just dialing 911? lol.
Meir Kahane was right.
‘No arrest’ and ‘Police not treating it as a hate crime’.
I, frankly, am “shocked” at the demo of the alleged perp.
There is no such thing as a hate crime against a white person.
The driver is obviously unhinged, lyft is dealing with it it seems, the police saying he’s just erratic. Lyft will probably compensate and move on
And so wrong! You can’t just act “erratic”, attack someone and get off. Crazy.
I’m sure most of the assault perpetrators of the world are erratic too. So let’s reward them and show them it’s ok to go further by letting them roam the streets- THAT won’t lead to anything worse I;m sure, right??
Let’s just say if it had been the other way round they wouldn’t have let it go.
We live in a horrible anti-semitic world. I only saw this on COL. This this needs to go viral. Imagine if it was the other way around, a white jew beats up an African American, there would be riots and marches against whites and Jews. But when a Jew get punched, every one just shrugs the shoulder. This is the new America where people have chutzpah to hit another human, and get away with it because the victim is jewish and white. Please Rabbi Shemtov, tell your govt acquaintances.
If the face didn’t match because the 1st driver canceled, the 2nd driver who took the ride’s face and info should’ve cone up?
Why didnt it show?
Report the driver to Lyft.
Lyft doesn’t stand for No nonsense.
He’ll be fired from his job.
Thank God.
Please God.
He should be in jail or in a facility where the public is safe from him.
Uh…. he’s already been fired. Reading is fundamental.
Bc in NY everyone is a Tzaddik
I wouldn’t use lyft in general horrible service there always is a cancellation or some problem
If the driver is not a US citizen, and has is arrested for assault, he can be deported!
The police have an identification but haven’t made an arrest? This is why DC has a violent crime problem.
Savages R Us.
The perp has been identified and still no arrest? Plus it isn’t being treated as a hate crime? Could it be that someone in upper echelon of the PD is a virulent anti-Semite?