SUWANEE — An Uber driver sustained injuries after being hit in the head by one of his passengers. The incident occurred on July 30 at approximately 10:30 p.m. on I-85 northbound just south of the Lawrenceville Suwanee Road exit.
Uber driver, Sohail Ali Mohammed told officers that he picked up three black males on I-85 NB after their vehicle broke down. The males told Mohammed to take them to Peachtree Corners and he told officers he was following his GPS to take them there. Then suddenly one of the males hit Mohammed in the head as he was driving, causing him to swerve to the far left side of the interstate and then slingshot back across the lanes. He impacted the concrete wall on the right side and eventually came to a stop. The three males fled the vehicle as it came to a stop.
Mohammed could not tell officers which male hit him nor could he tell them what kind of object the male used to hit him in the head with. The victim said that the three males did not demand anything nor did they take anything. The three males left behind multiple bags in Mohammed’s vehicle.
Officers set out to search for the vehicle that the suspects had abandoned on the side of I-85 NB. A silver Jeep Compass was located and after the VIN was ran through the system, it came back as stolen. Next to the vehicle officers observed a mask and Nike tennis shoes on the road. The vehicle was impounded to be processed by crime scene technicians.
The victim described two of the black males as wearing either blue or black track suits while the third suspect was wearing a black and white striped shirt. That was the extent of the description that Mohammed was able to provide officers. He gave police permission to use his phone to see the communication between him and the suspects before he picked them up.
Gwinnett County Police set up a perimeter around the area that the suspects fled from Mohammed’s crashed car and began to search for the three males. Gwinnett County Sheriff Deputies and their K9 units assisted in the search. It was later learned that the suspects had fled the scene just minutes prior to officers setting up the search perimeter.
Officers on the scene observed that Mohammed had a laceration to the head on the right side along with light bruising on his ribs. He was transported to Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville for treatment of his injuries. His vehicle was taken along with the stolen Jeep to police headquarters for processing by the Crime Scene Unit.
— By Nicole Burns
