Police are looking for a cyclist who was involved in an altercation with an Uber driver in Shoreditch on Tuesday morning. The apparent road rage incident is said to have culminated in the driver sustaining a dislocated shoulder.
Police have confirmed to the London Evening Standard that they were called to Great Eastern Street in Shoreditch at 8.56am on Tuesday following reports of a road rage incident between a cyclist and a car driver who were fighting in the street.
The Uber passenger, Richard Beech, editor of the Joe website, recounted his version of what happened via Twitter. It is unclear from his account what precipitated the incident.
Beech wrote:
“I was running late for work this morning, so I decided to get an Uber, it's only £8 from my house to my office.
“The guy turns up, he's a nice guy, we're talking about football, everything is fine.
“Then we get onto Roman Road, and cyclists are clusterfucking this guy like I've never seen before. It's like a swarm of bees.
“This one guy, who's dressed like he's about to win the fucking Tour de France is snaking around the road, so the Uber guy can't overtake him.
“Uber guy eventually overtakes, & the cyclist pulls up alongside him at the lights & calls him a "twat", then squirts his water bottle in car.
“I'm covered in water, so is the driver, and the cyclist speeds off. Unfortunately he speeds off on the same route as us.
“I tell the Uber driver to leave it, there's no way this can end well for him. Eventually we overtake cyclist again.
“The cyclist catches up when we're in traffic, uses his bike to carve a dent in the side of the Uber, and smashes the wing mirror off.
“Cyclist makes the mistake of stopping and saying "how do you like it now, c*nt". Faster than a cheetah, Uber man is out the car.
“Grabs the guy's bike so he can't run away, and they are fighting in the middle of the street in Shoreditch.
“I phone the police, and while I'm on the phone, the cyclist, who is a big guy, city boy type, has the Uber driver down on the floor.
“Police turn up, and the cyclist fucking hightails it, Uber man has dislocated shoulder, and is taken to hospital after we give a statement.
“Anyway, I walk to work from there. Hoping the guy's ok.”
Beech said he had submitted footage of the incident to the police. He also added that he later received a bill for a 90-minute Uber trip from his house to the hospital.
Update to this whole thing. The driver just called me, spent six hours in hospital but is fine. Police looking for the man who assaulted him https://t.co/pKeatvOUwd
— Richard Beech (@BeechardRich) September 20, 2016