Man Accused Of Assaulting Uber Driver In Darien Arrested: Police

DARIEN, CT — A Darien man accused of assaulting and acting aggressive toward an Uber driver in town was arrested Wednesday after a significant portion of the incident was caught on video, according to police.

Police said Shandaken Ford, 21, was charged with third-degree assault, breach of peace and second-degree criminal mischief.

In a news release, Police Capt. Jeremiah Marron Jr. said an incident between an Uber driver and a passenger outside a Tulip Tree Lane home was reported Friday around 11:30 p.m.

The driver sustained minor injuries and was taken to a hospital, however the passenger fled on foot before officers arrived, Marron said.

Officers searched the area with the help of a Westport police K-9 but were unable to locate the passenger, who was later identified as Ford, Marron said.

"A significant portion of this incident was documented on video and depicts Ford punching the [driver] and acting extremely aggressively toward the [driver]," Marron said in a news release.

Ford also caused minor damage to the interior of the driver's vehicle during the altercation, Marron said.

Officers made multiple attempts that night to locate Ford at his home, and were even able to make contact with family members, but ultimately did not find him, Marron said.

On Monday, police submitted an arrest warrant affidavit to Stamford Superior Court, which was granted and signed the following day, Marron said.

Police quickly contacted Ford's attorney Wednesday morning, and Ford turned himself in at police headquarters, Marron said. He was released on $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court later this month.

In a lengthy statement, Chief of Police Don Anderson said the circumstances of the incident were "highly distressing" to him and did not indicate reasonable conduct. He also noted he has been closely monitoring social media posts and online comments concerning this incident.

"To be clear," Anderson said in a statement, "this type of unprovoked behavior is certainly not in line with the beliefs and reasonable actions of virtually all Darien residents and visitors to our town and should not, and will not, be tolerated."

Anderson noted he has seen questions raised online asking why Ford was not arrested sooner.

"The accused is now charged with misdemeanor criminal charges," Anderson said, "in these types of cases, if the accused is not apprehended at the scene or in close proximity (in physical location and/or in time), the police are required to prepare and submit an arrest warrant application to a 'neutral and detached magistrate.' That is exactly what occurred here."

Anderson commended the officers involved in the investigation for their "professional and diligent work" regarding the incident.

"It was properly, expeditiously and thoroughly investigated," Anderson said, "an arrest warrant application was quickly generated and submitted for judicial review the first thing Monday morning following the incident. Now that an arrest has been made, the incident rests in the hands of the judicial branch of government for potential prosecution and ultimate incident disposition."

According to the Stamford Advocate, the Uber driver captured the incident on his dashboard camera after driving two passengers from downtown Stamford to Darien. In the video, one of the passengers can be seen asking the driver for his license and later reaching through the driver's side window and punching him, the Stamford Advocate reports.

At one point in the video, the driver can be heard saying "don't kill me, please!" repeatedly, according to the Stamford Advocate.