Uber driver choked while taking passengers home
STILLWATER, Okla. (KFOR) — A normal Uber ride took a scary turn for one driver in Stillwater after one of the passengers he picked up began choking him from the backseat.
Everything started out fine when Jerry Watt picked up three people from the bars, but minutes later, he found himself being choked by one of the passengers.
What is even worse is Stillwater Police told him there was nothing they could do, until News 4 started asking questions.
"I tried to make sure the vehicle was not going to get into a wreck, and as I was going down the road, all I knew was my vision started dimming and I didn't have any oxygen," Watt said. "I couldn't breathe."
A normal night Ubering took a turn for the worst when one of the passengers Watt picked up, began acting erratic.
"The drunk went from having a good time to what I call a bipolar drunk, came up there and grabbed a hold of me and had a hold of me," Watt said. "He's like, you're gonna take us to our destination, even though I was already in route of taking them to their destination."
Watt picked up three people—a young couple and an older man—who he was told was the stepfather to the young man.
"It was just the gentleman, the stepfather did it," Watt said.
He says while it was only the older man who choked him, the young couple didn't do anything to stop him.
"It was getting dark I'll tell you that," Watt said.
Watt's main priority was finding somewhere to safely pull over. He pulled into this gas station on Perkins and forced them to get out of his car.
He then drove to the Stillwater police station to report what happened.
"I said, okay, so I've got choked and stuff with that, you know, taking a drunk home and stuff and just kind of wondering about this, like what do I need to do in that situation?" Watt said.
"They were like, well, if you don't have no camera footage there is not much we can do," Watt said. "It's more of a he said she said type deal, you know, but it's kind of stuff you're getting into when you're doing Uber anyways."
Jerry was shocked and not sure what to do, so he turned to News 4.
News 4 reached out to the Stillwater Police Department, who say they were unaware of the incident.
We put them in contact with Watt and Stillwater PD did some digging. They found body cam footage of a police officer telling Watt there was nothing they could do to help.
Stillwater PD says that is unacceptable and not how they operate. They gave News 4 this statement:
"Stillwater Police Department has been made aware of an altercation between an Uber driver and passenger that occurred on January 21, 2024. This is currently under an official investigation."
Watt wanted to thank News 4 for stepping in because he says without us, he doesn't think police would have done anything about it.
He hopes the conclusion of the investigation will hold those involved accountable.