Uber driver assaulted by passenger in downtown Raleigh, police say

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Police are investigating after an Uber driver was assaulted by his passenger in Raleigh overnight.

But as the passenger's mugshot shows, the driver didn't go down without a fight.

The incident happened around 1:30 a.m. near South McDowell Street.

A Good Samaritan saw it happen and called 911.

"The suspect is hurt more than the victim is. He actually defended himself very well," the caller said.

The driver, who didn't want to be identified, talked to ABC11 on Thursday.

He said the suspect, 50-year-old Richard Bacchus, was acting erratic and ordered him to pull over at the exit ramp to Western Boulevard.

When Bacchus got out, he started kicking the car, the driver said.

The driver also said Bacchus was hurling racial slurs and threatened to kill him.

The confrontation turned physical when he said Bacchus tried to get in the driver's side door, saying he was going to take the car.

That's when a tow truck driver showed up and called 911.

"It appears they were riding with an Uber driver and he attempted to assault the Uber driver with a knife of some kind," he told the dispatcher.

The Uber driver told ABC11 that he isn't sure the weapon was a knife -- but it was some sort of blunt object.

Bacchus was charged with simple assault and injury to personal property.