A teenager in North Carolina was hospitalized after she says she jumped out of a moving Lyft vehicle last week when catching a Lyft home from work, adding that she was “scared” by the driver.
Eziya Bowden, 17, revealed she was scared by the driver of the ride-share service after he allegedly made comments about her appearance, People reported. She said she blacked out after she opened the car door as the vehicle was in motion, and only remembers where she landed on the ground, she told ABC 11.
Bowden, who is back home from the hospital recovering from her injuries, told ABC 11 the driver was making flirtatious comments to her and sprayed something in the car that made her feel different after, telling the local news out that she felt dizzy and warm.
“’How many boys flirted with you?’ He said that right away,” Bowden told the local news outlet. “If I’m riding with a stranger, I’m always nervous, but I knew, this it was different. I knew that I wasn’t going crazy or anything, I knew that my body has never felt like that before. I’ve seen a lot of this so I knew I was feeling drugged.”
She said that the car smelled like cigarettes when she got into the vehicle but she told ABC 11 he sprayed an unidentified substance that masked the smell, but something wasn’t quite right.
“But for you to keep spraying it, then roll your windows up, like I know how it’s not about me being nervous or anything. I’m just like, I know how it made me feel,” she said. “I was very scared, but then again I was more so like I’d rather get out this car than fall asleep in a car with this man I don’t really know.”
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That is when she jumped out of the car, she said. Raleigh police said there are no charges being filed in the incident. Inside Edition Digital reached out to Lyft for comment on this story and a spokesperson said, “Safety is fundamental to Lyft, and the behavior described is deeply concerning. We’ve been in touch with the rider’s family to offer our support, have removed the driver’s access to the Lyft platform, and stand ready to assist law enforcement with any investigation.”