Dallas Uber driver punches older man after argument over legroom, video shows

DALLAS – Dallas police are investigating after a rideshare driver struck an elderly passenger from behind.

A surveillance camera captured the attack Wednesday in the Dallas Design District. The 68-year-old passenger tells FOX 4 it all started as an argument over legroom.

Surveillance footage obtained by FOX 4 shows a man punching an elderly man in the back of the head Wednesday afternoon.

Suleman Gauba was the passenger. He says his attacker was his Uber driver.

Around 3:20 p.m., a video shows an Uber driver arriving in a Chevrolet Malibu to pick up an elderly couple on Market Center Boulevard in Dallas.

Gauba and his wife began to sit in the back seats. However, two and a half minutes passed and the car stopped there.

Surveillance video then shows Suleman getting out of the car and being punched in the back of the head by the driver before falling to the ground.

The driver hovered over him while his wife slowly got out of the car, the video shows.

Gauba says he complained to the driver about the lack of legroom and space in the back seat.

“I can’t sit in the back seat,” he said. “Very small place, you know?”

Gauba says that complaint led to the Uber driver canceling the ride and asking him to get out of the car.

“And he said, 'I'm canceling your trip,'” Gauba said.

According to Dallas police, there was an argument before the rideshare driver hit Gauba in the head.

“I just told him, 'Why are you canceling my trip?' I don’t know,” Guaba recalled. “That's when my wife said to him, 'I'm calling the police.'”

The suspect drove away before police arrived.

“I thought, what happened to me? “Why did he hit me?” said the older man.

Gauba, who is originally from Pakistan, said he moved to Dallas from New Mexico several years ago. He says he doesn't own a car and orders Uber rides to get around.

“We were going to go to Walmart,” he said.

Gauba hopes that investigators will find the man who didn't give him a ride but instead hit him in the head.

“Because he deserves it,” Gauba said. “He deserves prison.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dallas police.

The elderly couple say they have filed a complaint with Uber and have a possible license plate number.

Uber says it is in contact with the driver and is investigating the incident.