A Lyft driver was fired from her job after revealing she used a legally owned gun to protect herself during an attempted carjacking.
“I had to fight with these two men. I had one choking me from the back,” former Cleveland, Ohio, Lyft driver Cynthia Norman said.
Norman picked up the two men at 1 a.m. on Sunday and said she suspected something nefarious was afoot when she pulled into the destination, the NEO Sports Plant, and saw it was closed.
The two men then allegedly began attacking her, with one one of the men choking her and the other punching her in the face.
She then pulled a gun from the car’s console and began firing. It is unclear if either of the men were injured as they fled.
Norman then drove to a local police precinct.
“They didn’t know I was going to fight back,” she said.
Norman was later terminated from Lyft because the company has a zero-tolerance policy on weapons.
“Our ‘No Weapons’ policy applies when you are doing business as a representative of Lyft, which includes times that you are driving for Lyft, as well as times that you are visiting a Lyft Hub,” Lyft’s policy states.
“What if you’re getting attacked? What are you supposed to do then?” Norman said.
Local police say both men face charges of attempted kidnapping and attempted aggravated robbery. No arrests have been made, and the Lyft account used the night of the reported attempted carjacking used the name “NBA” and had no photo of the passengers.
