۹ فروردین ۱۴۰۳ |۱۸ رمضان ۱۴۴۵ | Mar 28, 2024
Man attacked Lyft driver because she was Muslim, ripped door handles off her car

A Lyft driver was the victim of an alleged hate crime in Bloomingdale in which her passenger attacked her and yelled racial slurs because, he said, she was Muslim, prosecutors said Friday.

Hawzah News Agency (Illinois, US) – Shortly before 2 a.m. Friday, according to a news release from the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office, 59-year-old Steven McCuiston, of Bloomingdale, was riding in a Lyft car when he began yelling racial slurs at the victim as she drove.

The driver stopped the car, got out and called 911. Prosecutors alleged that McCuiston climbed over the driver’s seat, followed the victim out the front door, yelled another slur and told her, “Just because you’re a Muslim, I’m gonna kill you and snap your neck.”

McCuiston tried to punch the victim and struck her in her shoulder and ripped off door handles on the inside and outside of the car, prosecutors stated.

Bloomingdale police responded to the driver’s 911 call and took the passenger into custody. Hate crime is a felony. McCuiston was also charged with misdemeanor criminal damage to property.

DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin called McCuiston’s actions “despicable.”

“Hate crimes and the accompanying prejudice have no place in a civilized society and anyone accused of such behavior will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Berlin said.

Associate Judge Anthony Coco set bail at $25,000, meaning McCuiston must pay $2,500 to get out of jail before his case is resolved. His next court date was scheduled for April 1 before Judge John Kinsella.

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