Houston police have released a dashcam video of an Army Reserves veteran driving an uber who escaped after two passengers attacked him with one holding a gun to the vet’s head.
The police are hoping that releasing the video to the public will help them to find the suspects.
“They put the gun to my head, behind me, and shouting like, ‘Get out of the car,’” the Uber driver Dovran, who reportedly served seven years in the U.S. Army Reserves, told KPRC 2.
The incident occurred on October 18, at roughly 11 a.m. Dovran said a pickup request came from a man named “MJ” in a parking lot behind a McDonald’s. The initial plan was for Dovran to make the drop-off near a Walmart, but then was changed to an apartment complex, Houston police stated. Dovran said that when the Uber approached the drop-off site, one man pulled out a gun and put it to Dovran’s head, demanding Dovran get out of the car, snapping, “’Get out before I kill you. Get out before I kill you. I’m going to kill you. Get the f*** out the car. Get the f*** out the car!”
“Luckily, he didn’t shoot me,” Dovran said.
The Dashcam video caught one suspect exiting the rear passenger door in order to open the driver’s side door to yank Dovran out. “I was holding my seatbelt so they failed,” Dovran recalled.
The ensuing struggle with the suspect who had left the car left him on the ground along with Dovran’s phone, prompting Dovran to try to drive away. “I was thinking, ‘Okay, if I drive off, at least one guy will be behind me because he was outside. Luckily, the guy who was in the driving seat, he just jumped out,” Dovran told ABC 13.
As Dovran drives away, the video shows the suspect with the gun insisting, “I’m gonna shoot you! I’m gonna shoot you!” before apparently jumping out of the car.
“I was shocked, you know. I was thankful to God like, he didn’t shoot me,” Dovran admitted. “Thankful. I’m lucky.”
Uber released a statement regarding the incident. “The actions of the riders shown in the video were chilling to watch and we are grateful the driver wasn’t injured,” the statement read. “We removed the rider’s access and have reached out to the driver to offer support. We look forward to assisting police in identifying those responsible.”
Police have asked anyone who can identify the suspects to call Crime Stoppers of Houston.