A very short Lyft ride ended with cakes thrown, pepper spray sprayed and one woman in jail.
Woman Throws EPCOT Cakes After Lyft Driver Assault
Jaleen Vargas, 25, of New York, was arrested for battery and assault, which are both misdemeanors.
The incident unfolded Oct. 29 as a Lyft driver was called to pick up Vargas at EPCOT’s ride share spot, according to her Orange County Sheriff’s arrest report.
The ride wasn’t going well — Vargas and the driver started arguing. The driver thought Vargas had an attitude and told her he wanted to cancel her ride, the arrest report said.
As she was leaving the car, Vargas threatened to put her hands on the driver, the driver told authorities. The driver reached over and shut the passenger door behind her and she reopened it. The driver asked her again to leave. He pepper sprayed Vargas in the face, the arrest report said.
The driver got out of his car to close the passenger door again behind Vargas when she “threw cakes that she had in her possession at him,” the arrest report said.
Then, according to the arrest report, Vargas punched the driver in the face three times and then scratched his eye.
The driver called for help and showed law enforcement video from his dash camera which authorities said proved his version of events.
Interviewed by law enforcement, Vargas elaborated on how the Lyft trip escalated quickly after the driver had apparently canceled her ride.
She asked the driver to mark her as picked up but the driver retorted she was “complaining about a couple of cents right now. Jaleen stated yes, she worked hard for her couple of cents,” the arrest report said.
Vargas said she was out of his car when he pepper sprayed her.
Vargas declined to comment for this story. She did not have an attorney listed in court records at the time this story was written.
Her arrest is one of dozens that’s occurred so far this year. WDWNT has broken stories about people being caught with drugs, urinating in public or getting in trouble in alcohol-fueled incidents.
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