Gold Coast woman 'attacked, run over' by Uber driver
A Gold Coast woman was allegedly run over by an Uber driver leaving her hospitalised with a suspected broken leg, a blood clot and several bruises.
Sascha Pangallo booked a car through the ride-sharing app on Friday night "as I do on the daily" when she was leaving work.
But her journey went to hell when her driver "Paul" screamed at her for talking on the phone before trying to pull her from the car and run her over as he fled the scene.
"Yesterday afternoon, I ordered an Uber (as I do on the daily)," Ms Pangallo wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday.
"Little did I know on this particular afternoon I would be stepping into an Uber with a psychotic/mentally unstable driver aka 'Paul'.
"After refusing to put my destination into his GPS he requested my directing (which I had no problem with) however I was on an important phone call and during one of the directions he snapped and screamed at me in a very aggressive manner," the Gold Coast woman wrote.
Ms Pangallo claims her driver turned into an "absolute maniac" and started "getting very physical, grabbing me and trying to drag me out of the car".
When the driver noticed there was a witness he tried to flee the scene.
"My door was still open as I was frantically trying to grab my bags out of the car and before I could get away I was thrown to the ground and my leg was being run over," she wrote.
Ms Pangallo shared photos of her numerous bruises on Facebook from a hospital bed where she has a "suspected blood clot and possible broken leg".
She said she was "pro-Uber" but the incident turned her off the service entirely.
Uber spokesperson Caspar Nixon told the Daily Mail the driver had been removed from the service and Uber was assisting authorities with their inquiries.
"Safety is our top priority and we will work with the authorities on their investigation. Our thoughts are with the injured woman and we wish her a full and speedy recovery."
The driver was registered with the Uber Taxi service, meaning they held a Driver Authorisation from Queensland's Department of Transport and Main Roads, which included a criminal background check.
Morning news break – September 7
