Houston Lyft driver finds silver lining after passenger attack

Lyft driver receives car after being attacked

A Lyft driver, who was attacked by a passenger in January, is now seeing the blessing in disguise that was driver didn't have a car after that attack. And thanks to a good Samaritan, she was gifted one.

HOUSTON - A Lyft driver who was attacked by a passenger on Christmas Eve has found an unexpected blessing in the aftermath of the incident. Thanks to a good Samaritan, she now has a new car.

Lyft driver has new car after passenger attack

What we know:

Anita describes her journey as one from tragedy to triumph. On Christmas Eve, while driving for Lyft, she was attacked by a passenger. The incident began over a spilled drink in the car. Anita was cleaning up the spill and asked her passenger to dispose of the drink. The passenger didn't take kindly to the request, and as tensions escalated, Anita asked her to leave the vehicle. That's when things took a turn for the worse.

Lyft driver attacked: Cell phone video captures disturbance

Cell phone video captured the moment a Lyft driver got into a verbal disturbance with a passenger after the driver told the passenger to exit the vehicle.

What they're saying:

In an interview with FOX 26, Anita expressed her reluctance to return to ride-share driving.

"No, I'm actually kind of scared to do that, to be honest. I don't even like to call a Lyft or Uber for myself anymore," she said.

This wasn't Anita's first unpleasant experience with a passenger, so having cameras inside her car was routine.

"I struggled a lot going back to driving for Lyft. I lost my rental car with Lyft, and that was the only vehicle I had at the time," Anita explained.

Months later, while scrolling through TikTok, Anita came across a video from Peter Montes, the owner of PM Fleets. She entered his contest, and her story won him over.

Peter Montes, PM Fleets owner, said, "She really got attacked, she didn’t have a car, she has kids, she works at a school as a teacher, she had a rough time getting to work, and she was about to lose her job because she didn’t have a car."

Anita said the gifted car has been life-changing for her and her kids.

"After not having a vehicle it’s a blessing. Just being able to take them [her children] places and not have to take a bus or order Lyft or Uber, or ask for a ride," Anita said.

The other side:

Lyft said in a statement, "We are deeply concerned about this incident. The safety of our drivers and passengers is our priority. The user has been permanently banned from the platform."

Dig deeper:

The passenger, Deja Leanne Jackson, was arrested and charged with intentional assault and causing bodily injury, but was released on a $100 bond.