An Atlanta man is suing the multibillion-dollar ride share company Lyft after he says one of the company’s contracted drivers shot him in the head.
Emanuel Hollins, 31, of Dekalb County, Georgia held a press conference on Tuesday to detail the 2020 incident and its aftermath. With attorney Michael Jones by his side, Hollins called the last few years of his life “hell,” saying: “There are more days these last two years I’ve not wanted to be here than in my whole life.”
Hollins said the night of December 28, 2020, began normally enough. He called a Lyft to take him to work at Park Valley Apartment Homes in Decatur, where he was an apartment manager.
Driver Mashelle Rucker picked him up and started towards the destination. About 30 minutes into the ride, Hollins noticed that the drop-off address had been entered incorrectly and changed to the correct destination, less than a mile from the original.
“When I changed the address, she didn’t like that, because she didn’t feel as though she was going to be paid,” he said.
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In an attempt to appease Rucker, he suggested she drop him at a fast-food restaurant across the street so he could walk to his final destination instead. After reassuring her she would still get paid, Hollins said Rucker eventually dropped him off at the entrance of the complex.
Thinking the tense ride was over, Hollins exited the vehicle and made his way towards the building. That’s when, he said, he heard a popping noise behind him followed by a ringing in his head.
Hollins had been shot in the back of the head, the bullet coming to rest lodged in his forehead. After emergency surgery, multiple follow-up surgeries and thousands of dollars in medical bills, he was left without vision in his right eye.
“I just don’t understand if someone’s walking away from your car, how you can feel they’re a threat to you. I didn’t look back at the car. I didn’t start yelling at her or anything,” he said of the shooting, adding he would have done “anything else but just shoot someone in the back of the head.”
Rucker was arrested the same night for aggravated assault but posted bail four days letter and has yet to be formally charged or prosecuted. Besides calling for criminal prosecution of Rucker, Hollins has lodged a lawsuit against Lyft, who he accused of taking no responsibility for the situation.
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Jones said Lyft had failed to properly screen Rucker before allowing her to drive for the company, and that a prior arrest for battery should have disqualified her from employment with them.
Hollins is suing the company for $90,000 in medical bills and $20 million in pain and suffering and lost wages.
DeKalb County District Attorney’s office said in statement obtained by CBS News Atlanta that “charges are forthcoming pending the receipt of records required from Mr. Hollins and his attorney.” The station also reported that Lyft confirmed Rucker is no longer on the platform.
According to Lyft’s website, drivers must undergo a criminal background check and may be precluded from employment on the platform if they have been convicted of a “disqualifying violent crime (such as homicide, kidnapping, human trafficking, arson, burglary, carjacking, robbery, or aggravated assault).”
