Wild moment a taxi driver pushes a woman to the ground after she ‘refused to pay’ an $80 fare: ‘Don’t touch me, it’s sexual assault!’
- Taxi driver and passenger got into a fight over unpaid fare
- Stunned onlookers urged the taxi driver to let her go
Shocking footage captured the moment a taxi driver pushed a passenger to the ground after accosting her about an unpaid ride.
It is alleged that the woman had a ride in a taxi before being dropped off in Rhodes, Sydney’s inner west, with a fare of about $80.
She started to leave when the driver stopped her on the sidewalk and demanded she pay the fare.
Bewildered locals gathered around the couple, and one filmed the incident as it escalated, as the taxi driver tried to drag the woman back into the vehicle.
‘Do not touch me. It’s assault!’ the woman yelled.
She slaps the driver across the face, prompting him to turn to the crowd.
Shocking footage captured the moment a taxi driver collided with a passenger over an unpaid fare
‘To see? She hit me, okay?’ he said.
The driver continues to get in the way of the woman and repeatedly tries to push and grab her, forcing her back against the wall of a storefront.
A bystander urges the driver to let the passenger go.
“What are you going to get out of her?” he said.
The passenger yells repeatedly for the driver to get out of the way.
The driver pushes her back, dodges another slap in the face, and follows her up the road.
‘Go away!’ shouted the passenger.
Moments later, the passenger is pushed to the ground by the taxi driver, before she is seen crying on the floor as the driver stands over her.
A man is heard saying off screen, “Man, that’s too far.”
Bewildered locals gathered around the pair and one filmed the incident as it escalated
The crying woman finally gets up to walk away as the driver stands defeated on the road.
Footage of the heated argument was uploaded to Facebook, where social media users quickly slapped bystanders for telling the driver to let the passenger go.
‘Let her go! That $80 may just be what this hard-working man was looking for to feed his family tonight,” one person wrote
“Let someone use your only way to feed your family that day. You do the same.’
Another added: ‘Mr Taxi Man is just trying to make a living. Time after time.’
Other social media users defended the woman, saying the driver should have backed off.
“He can’t treat her like that anyway,” one wrote.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted NSW Police for comment.