The California Highway Patrol is investigating the death of a man who fell onto the 110 freeway last week during a Lyft ride.
The 23-year-old named Justin Lavelle fell out of the car and was hit by multiple vehicles, KCAL9/CBS2’s Peter Daut reports. He later died at the hospital.
Lavelle, a waiter from Virginia, was going from West Hollywood to Long Beach. During the ride, Lavelle called a friend to complain about the driver who had threatened to throw him onto the freeway. He later called his mother saying he had been pepper-sprayed by the driver. After calling, Lavelle somehow fell out of the car.
Lyft has apologized and fired the driver. The company sent KCAL9/CBS2 this statement:
“We are deeply saddened by this incident and our thoughts are with those impacted by this loss. We have been in daily contact with this individual’s family to offer our support and assistance. Given the serious nature of these allegations, we immediately deactivated the driver’s account. We have proactively reached out to law enforcement and stand ready to assist in their investigation.”
CHP investigators have not yet spoken to the driver, but plan to CBS reports.
Read more from CBS
Update at 1:11 PM
NBC is reporting that the Lyft driver, Tariq Rasseed, allegedly asked Lavelle to exit on the side of the 110 freeway after he “held” his steering wheel.
More details as they become available.
