The NBA reporter, a female for Atlanta Hawks, was literally crying over this incident.
The reason: the car’s air conditioning
So, here are the pieces of the puzzle. The Atlanta Hawks correspondent is none other than Tabitha Turner. But things can go just as badly.
The Uber driver pepper-sprayed her and struck her in the head over a fight over the car’s air conditioning.
Usually, you can bring up to the driver to turn up the air conditioning if you feel it’s too warm, but for the driver’s reaction to be this tells something else.
Here’s what happened
The NBA correspondent was on her way home after her errands at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport at around 3:40 p.m. on a Saturday, according to her lawyer, Miguel Dominguez.
The courtside reporter for the NBA Atlanta Hawks, as well as for the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA – yikes, double whammy – booked an Uber Comfort, the Uber service that allows passengers to customize their ride, including changing air conditioning levels.
So, there should be no fuss from that point.
AC switched off
But, how can she turn up the air conditioning if the unit is off and the windows are rolled down?
“One thing that she noticed when her Uber pulled up, right off the rip, was that this clearly wasn’t a comfort vehicle,”
Dominguez told the media. He added how the reporter felt “really hot” and “sweaty.” Even this Ridesharing Forum team would speak up to the driver.
The nerves
The driver, Mericole Smith, even got the guts to upload a TikTok video after the incident, which had garnered millions of views.
From her perspective, she shared that she had switched the air conditioning, but left the windows open because he was worried that passengers might get sick and vomit. Passengers vomiting inside the car is a driver’s worst nightmare.
Irate
However, the request really angered Smith. But, for him to lash out with pepper spray and hurt the passenger? Totally over the fence.
But here’s the catch. Being a reporter, Turner pulled out her phone and started recording their heated exchange. She posted it online and spread around. Hey, she’s a celebrity, too.
In her video, it was seen that the driver was cursing and screaming at the reporter.
The action
Afterward, the driver stopped and exited the car, removed Turner’s bag, and even attempted to pull her out of the vehicle. It ended getting into a struggle.
Then, the pepper-spraying happened. The driver also hit the correspondent in the head and upper torso. In her police report, she stated Smith initiated the attack.
Now, there are visible bruises on Turner’s left shoulder and elbow. As piece of evidence, she showed the pepper spray containers used against here, which she was able to grab from the driver.
The defense
In her TikTok video – yes, she was a female driver so it was a cat fight – the driver alleged she used pepper spray for “self-defense,” citing Turner reaching out for a “weapon” from her bag, and trying “to gouge” her eye out. She said she needed stitches for this.
So, it wasn’t Turner posting the fight on social media.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Smith on misdemeanor charges of battery and simple battery.
“I just wanted to go home from work and see my daughter. I’ve got threats,” Turner told ridesharing media. “I have opportunities with the league that I don’t know if they are going to happen now…,” she continued. “I didn’t ask for this.”
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