<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Wingdings;
panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
p.MsoListNumber, li.MsoListNumber, div.MsoListNumber
{mso-style-priority:99;
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:.25in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#954F72;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
/* List Definitions */
@list l0
{mso-list-id:-120;
mso-list-type:simple;
mso-list-template-ids:-1836962026;}
@list l0:level1
{mso-level-style-link:"List Number";
mso-level-tab-stop:.25in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
margin-left:.25in;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l1
{mso-list-id:358553242;
mso-list-type:hybrid;
mso-list-template-ids:1299738780 -370753002 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;}
@list l1:level1
{mso-level-start-at:360;
mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:-;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
@list l1:level2
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";}
@list l1:level3
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l1:level4
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1:level5
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";}
@list l1:level6
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l1:level7
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1:level8
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";}
@list l1:level9
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
ol
{margin-bottom:0in;}
ul
{margin-bottom:0in;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Uber Driver Slams Service Dog to Ground After Fight with Owner, Police Say<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>By Maya Rajamani January 26, 2016 2:54pm <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Source: <a href="https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160126/midtown/uber-driver-slams-service-dog-ground-after-fight-with-owner-police-say">https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160126/midtown/uber-driver-slams-service-dog-ground-after-fight-with-owner-police-say</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>MIDTOWN — An Uber driver viciously slammed a passenger’s service dog onto the ground after telling her she couldn’t have the pooch in his car — leaving the animal with<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>a dislocated hip and an injured knee that required surgery, police said.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The 30-year-old Manhattan resident had gotten into the cab with her Silky Terrier in front of 1755 Broadway, near West 56th Street, on Jan. 21 around 7:30<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>p.m., the NYPD said.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>When driver Muhammad Qayyum, 23, saw the pup, he told her, “I will not take your dog in my car,” police said.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>After Qayyum, from Queens, refused to drive the woman and her pooch, he got out of the car, went to the right back passenger seat and grabbed the dog’s<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>leash from the woman’s hand, the NYPD said.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Qayyum used the leash to yank the dog out of her lap and threw the animal to the ground, according to a complaint filed with the Manhattan District Attorney’s<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>office.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The dog suffered a dislocated hip and a knee injury, the DA said. The owner brought her pet to a veterinarian on West 55th Street in Hell's Kitchen after<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>the incident, police said.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>It was not clear why the woman required the service dog.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Qayyum denied slamming the canine to the ground, said an Uber spokeswoman, who noted that all Uber drivers are required to accommodate service animals.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The driver claimed that after the woman refused to show documents proving the terrier was a service animal, she made “racist, religiously disparaging slurs”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>and punched him in the face several times, the spokeswoman explained.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“Any mistreatment of animals is abhorrent and we do not tolerate violent behavior on the platform,” she said.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“The driver-partner and rider accounts have been suspended while we investigate this incident.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Qayyum was arrested and charged with aggravated cruelty to animals and harming a service animal, the complaint said.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>He was released without bail and an order of protection has been issued against him, the DA's office said.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Neither an attorney for Qayyum nor the woman who owns the dog responded to requests for comment.<o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>