'Terrified' Uber passenger witnesses racist tirade against driver

BOSTON — A passenger got right up in the face of an Uber driver and went on a racist tirade early Tuesday morning, according to a video shot from inside the car.

Another passenger was filming the whole time while in the car at Berkeley Street and Commonwealth Avenue.

The driver told Boston 25 the passenger was yelling profanity and racist comments. He said the situation got so bad, his other passengers were terrified and he had to call police.

The driver said turned into an ugly racist rant.

“He spat into my face constantly,” driver Mubin Sonmez said. “All kinds of bad names, and, 'you're going to go to jail,' and, 'tonight they're going to deport you."

He’s from turkey but is a United States citizen now.

Sonmez had two Uber pool passengers in his car around 1:20 a.m. Tuesday when he stopped to pick up a third at Comm. Ave. and Berkeley in the back bay. He says he called the passenger, who said he'd be right out.

But after waiting about five minutes, Sonmez cancelled the trip.

“Then he showed up on the other side of the street," Sonmez said. "And he lost it."

One of the pool riders in the backseat shot cell phone video of the incident.

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Sonmez called police and says the guy was still screaming as he spoke with the dispatcher.

"He was still swearing and pointing his finger to my face,” Sonmez said.

But right after he hung up, he says the guy took off down the street.

Uber issued a statement on the incident, saying, “what's been described is totally unacceptable, and this rider has been banned."

Sonmez says he's never dealt with anything like this in the four years he has been driving for Uber and it has him thinking about taking measures for his own safety.

“At this point…just maybe pepper spray to protect myself. Because what can I do?" he said.

Boston Police told Boston 25 the rider hasn't been arrested, but they do have the video and the whole thing is under investigation.

Uber says the rider has been permanently banned.

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