Police are searching for the man who attacked Eduardo Madiedo during a Lyft ride last week. (Flickr)
May 29, 2019 By Laura Hanrahan
A Lyft driver was left battered and bruised after a passenger in Astoria attacked him mid-trip.
On Thursday May 23, just after 6 p.m., Eduardo Madiedo, 36, picked up two passengers, a man and woman, who wanted to go to Mount Sinai hospital on 30th Avenue.
Once inside the car, video footage shows, the man lays down in the woman’s lap and soon grows impatient since traffic is slow. The man sits up and starts loudly moaning, saying “there’s gotta be something we can do.” He then proceeds to take off his jacket so that he is shirtless.
The man then asks Madiedo to “drive faster, please.” When Madiedo explains that he can’t get around the cars in front of him on 33rd Street, the man starts offering some back seat driving tips littered with expletives.
Madiedo tells the passenger “excuse me man, if you’re going to be disrespectful, I’ll just pull over right now.”
The passenger immediately springs up and starts clobbering Madiedo, punching him repeatedly in the head while trying to climb into the front seat. The woman tries to get the man to stop, shouting out “George” several times.
The man and woman then exit the car near 30-90 33rd St., and the man reaches back inside through the driver side window to try to punch Madiedo one more time.
Madiedo did not suffer any serious injuries from the incident, but told NBC News he may give up Lyft driving.
“I just felt like, less than human almost,” he said.
An investigation is ongoing and police are continuing to search for the assailant.
