An Uber Driver Fought Her Way Out and Ran for Help
An Uber driver attacked by a passenger near Columbus and Mass. Ave. escaped her SUV and ran into a pizza shop for help. A man was charged.
Scene imagery is illustrative — not the actual locationOn a Thursday evening in early November 2025, around 6:30 p.m., an Uber driver who had picked up a passenger in Cambridge stopped near the corner of Columbus Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, according to WHDH. Police said the passenger attacked her from behind with a cord or wire around her neck.
She managed to get out of the vehicle and away from her attacker, running into a nearby pizza shop where an employee helped her. The suspect drove off in her SUV, which police later recovered on Blue Hill Avenue in Dorchester.
Paramedics treated the driver at the scene. Police arrested a 24-year-old Boston man the next day; he faced charges including carjacking and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. The charges were allegations as the case headed to court.
Seconds versus minutes.
Nobody moves toward danger faster than police. The clock is still the clock.
Until they arrive, you are the plan: distance, locked doors, a phone in hand, training. A Massachusetts license takes months — start before you need it.
Sources: NENA 911 call-processing standard (STA-020.1-2020) · FBI, Active Shooter Incidents 2000–2013 · City of Boston, Boston About Results — BPD Performance Report. Boston's figure is its last published Priority 1 median, call receipt to arrival. Incident timing is from the FBI's study of timed violent incidents. Respect for the officers who answer these calls, always — this is arithmetic, not blame.
This could have been any of us.
Rideshare drivers let strangers into their back seat for a living — but so does anyone who's ever given a coworker's friend a lift or picked up a marketplace buyer. This driver was on a well-lit corner in the middle of the city at dinner time. What saved her was refusing to freeze: she got out, got distance, and got to people. That instinct deserves the credit.
The reality most of us never see coming.
Sources: Council on Criminal Justice, Trends in Carjacking · Council on Criminal Justice, Trends in Carjacking · Mass.gov / EOPSS crime data release
What we tell our students.
When we walk through survivor stories in class, we point at what worked. She created distance and moved toward light, people, and help — that's textbook, and she did it under the worst possible stress. Awareness and escape are always the first tools. A firearm, for those who choose to carry lawfully, is a last resort behind all of that, never a substitute for it.
Something else we say plainly: deciding you want more options after a night like this is common — most people get serious about training only after a close call, their own or a neighbor's. In Massachusetts that decision has a long runway. Licensing takes months, and the training requirement comes first. Our course in Everett satisfies that requirement so you can apply, and it's built for beginners who hope they'll never need any of it.
State Police & NRA certified instructors · 20+ years teaching Massachusetts · Indoor range in Everett, 10 minutes from Boston
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