A D.C. Lyft driver was arrested Wednesday in the assault of a local rabbi who police said was getting a ride from the driver.
Tireek Myrick, 32, of Northwest D.C., was arrested and charged with simple assault in the case, police said.
Rabbi Menachem Shemtov, director of Chabad Georgetown, said he ordered a Lyft outside the D.C. headquarters of Chabad Lubavitch and rode less than a block on Connecticut Avenue Northwest when the driver ordered him out.
D.C. police said in a news release that Myrick canceled the ride after Shemtov requested that Myrick lower the volume on the radio. When Shemtov got out of Myrick’s car, Myrick followed him and assaulted him, according to police.
Myrick then fled the scene, police said.
Investigators said they’re looking into the possibility that the alleged assault was motivated by hate or bias.
Myrick has also been charged in an unrelated case of burglary. That incident happened on R Street NE on Jan. 13, when police said Myrick went to a house in the area to deliver food but “failed to deliver food” to the customer.
When the order was canceled, police said Myrick “returned to the victim’s home yelling and banging on the door demanding money from the victims.”
When they didn’t give him money, Myrick kicked in the door and “took property,” police said, before fleeing.
WTOP’s Dick Uliano contributed to this report.
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