Fayetteville Uber driver suffers brain damage in beating
FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina (WTVD) -- An Uber driver in Fayetteville claims he was beaten so badly by a Fort Bragg soldier he suffered brain damage.
Police are now investigating and considering filing felony charges.
Vernon Williams told ABC11 Thursday he will never work as an Uber driver again and will always bear the scars of a violent attack where he was punched in the head and kicked while on the ground.
Williams said it happened February 5. He went to an Uber pickup at a downtown Fayetteville restaurant and bar. When he told the group of soldiers there were too many to fit in his car, one of them got belligerent and violent.
"He said 'N-word you are going to take us home.' He swung the door back. That's when I got out," Williams recalled. "There was a guy in front of me, and the blow came from my right. I didn't even see the blow coming."
Williams had to have emergency surgery for blood clots in his brain and undergo physical rehabilitation. His wife Fran says her husband's recovery is a divine miracle.
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"Seeing him being able to walk up and down the hallway where a week ago he could not even lift his leg," she explained.
A police report indicates Williams declined to press charges and did not list any witnesses. William's attorney, Allen Rogers, says the report given by an off-duty policeman - who is the restaurant's security officer - is grossly incomplete and inaccurate.
"To indicate case closed, prosecution declined, is just false," said Rogers.
He plans to file a complaint about the report with the district attorney.
Initially, one Ft. Bragg solider was charged with a misdemeanor assault and battery, but now police tell us that felony charges may be pending against one or more of the soldiers.
