John Jefferson
An Uber in New York (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A New York Uber driver is accused of threatening to kill a passenger who reported him to the company after he canceled a trip because the rider had a service dog with him.
Mark Bababekov, 47, faces a federal charge related to making threats after he allegedly tried to make repeated calls to the passenger through the rideshare app and was recorded in calls to the rideshare company making threats, according to court documents unsealed on Monday.
The affidavit outlines Bababekov’s alleged repeated and escalating threats from May to September. Bababekov was a driver with the rideshare company until September 2022, when his account was deactivated over the complaint.
Bababekov told the rider, identified in court documents as “Individual-1,” that he didn’t believe the dog was a service animal and repeatedly asked the company to provide documentation that the dog was a service animal, court documents said.
In the alleged threats, Bababekov said he knew where the individual lived, and didn’t quit making the threats even after warnings from the FBI, authorities said.
“I have nothing to lose in this life,” he allegedly said in one call in May. “[Individual-1] ruined my life. I am going to ruin his life. I have no choice but to run him over.”
He also allegedly said, “I will run him over, make him permanently disabled” and “His life’s gonna end,” court documents said.
Authorities said he was prepared to act on those threats.
“[My] patience run out. I have to do what I have to do. I will run him over,” he said, according to court documents.
Even after an interview with an FBI agent at 2 a.m. on May 21, in which Bababekov said he would not “go after” Individual-1 and he would stop making threats, he allegedly kept on making threats against the passenger to Uber support personnel on recorded phone lines and in messages from his rideshare driver profile.
“You have six days left to provide me the documents,” he allegedly said in a June message to the company. “[I]f you’re not gonna provide me any evidence or any documents, your customer motherf—– gonna get hurt I don’t care if you’re gonna contact the FBI or anybody else you f— my life I’m going to f— his life.”
At one point days later, he allegedly sent a message, saying, “I’m gonna go to his house park my car wait for his a– to f—— come out and run him f—— over.”
On Sept. 3, 2024, Bababekov allegedly sent a message to the company’s mobile app, saying, “Your custom [sic] is going to end up for rest of his life in the wheelchair then I hope I will pray for the God The police gonna arrest me.”
In a statement to Law&Crime, Uber said the threats began over 1 ½ years after the driver’s deactivation and about one month after the driver lost his litigation against Uber, when a neutral arbitrator upheld Uber’s decision to remove the driver from the platform. The driver remains banned from Uber, the company said.
“Threats of violence will not be tolerated and our teams proactively reported this alarming behavior to authorities. We appreciate their quick action and will continue to support their investigation,” the Uber statement said.
Bababekov is also a driver for a Manhattan-based livery base. The city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission is seeking to suspend his license, commission spokesman Jason Kersten said.
Bababekov was arrested on Saturday and was free on bond. His lawyer declined to comment, the New York Daily News reported.
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