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Who is Michele Stilwell? Florida nurse, 55, chokes Uber driver, bites his neck ‘like a pitbull’ in bizarre video

'She started screaming curse words at me and slapped me in the face,' the driver Michael Hassey Jr said

ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA: A ride has left an Uber driver traumatized for life. Michael Hassey Jr has alleged that an incident took place inside his car on April 17 when he picked up a woman, named Michele Stilwell, who not only choked him but also bit him in the neck “like a pitbull”. The 22-year-old Hassey Jr said he was driving his Uber in St Petersburg near Tampa when a request came to pick up the 55-year-old woman.

Stilwell reportedly got into his car in front of Cask Social Kitchen in Tampa and immediately fell asleep. But then suddenly woke up and attacked Hassey Jr while screaming “my daughter”. As per reports, a few blocks from her home, the woman grabbed the victim from behind. “She started screaming curse words at me and slapped me in the face,” the driver told WFLA8. He also added, “She sinks into my neck like a pitbull, shaking her head and stuff.” A police arrest report stated that Stilwell “continued to bite, strangle and claw at the victim, who was unable to defend himself” as others looked on.

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Reports said the attack by the woman was unprovoked, however, she was under the influence of alcohol. When Hassey Jr tried to call the police for help, Stilwell struck the phone from his hand. The young man said he did not fight back because he did not want to hurt the woman. “I let it happen. I didn’t put my hands back on her because I have two sisters and I was raised to never put my hands on a female,” Hassey Jr told the Florida TV station. The man called the incident “emotionally traumatizing” due to which he has to take a psychologist’s help.

Hassey Jr also claimed that despite reaching out to Uber a number of times since the attack, he did not get a callback. But after the news spread out, Uber contacted him and is reportedly working with law enforcement to probe the case. “What's been described is disturbing. Violence of any kind is not tolerated on the Uber app, and we immediately removed the rider's access as soon as this was reported to us,” a Uber spokesperson stated.

Meanwhile, Stilwell, who is a registered nurse in Florida for over two decades, was taken into custody and pressed with aggravated battery and tampering with a witness, both felonies. But she was released on a $15,000 bond.

People on Twitter have also reacted to this bizarre news. One user tweeted, “What kind of foolishness?! They couldn’t just open the door and yank her off of him? And why is he letting himself be bitten by a stranger in the midst of a pandemic?! Everyone in this video is crazy.” The second user said, “The reason he's not getting her off of him by force is because Uber drivers are not protected by Uber for harming passengers. People try to provoke Uber and Lyft drivers into an altercation so that they can sue for thousands of dollars. He's doing the right thing.” “what the fuck,” the third added.