Pistol-Whipped Dallas Lyft Driver Keeps Going, Recording the Whole Time

Franklin Russell was already tired when he accepted a Lyft ride request from a passenger at downtown Dallas' Greyhound Station at about 2:45 a.m. He was trying to make a little extra cash before picking his sister up in Richardson, to take her to the airport. 

Upon arrival and commencing the usual "where are you?" dance that accompanies Uber and Lyft pickups, Russell, dash cam running, watched as a car backed into his.
After the crash, Russell got out and confronted the guy who ran into him. Russell says the man driving the other car then pulled a gun on him and maced him.

"After than, I basically ran off — and out of view of the camera. I made the mistake, instead of going toward the people and the front door, I went around the corner of the building where there's like no one," he says. "That's where the guy beat me down on the sidewalk and shit. Pistol-whipped me. I started screaming for help and he ran off."

Russell then headed into the station to clean the blood off his face. Dallas police took a report from Russell — they just got back to him about pursuing the incident, which happened in April, this week.

And then the driver, professional that he is, took his fare, the one that dragged him to the Greyhound station in the first place, to her destination before heading to pick up his sister. That earned him 5 stars: 
Last week, Russell posted the video to Youtube as Episode One of what he plans to be an ongoing series of his travails working for Lyft. The second episode, filmed the same night as the attack, went up Tuesday. It features an amorous pair of women Russell picked up in Deep Ellum, and is way more Taxi Cab Confessions than Cops.

He hasn't reported the incident or the budding television career to Lyft.  He's worried that the company will stop the show or the driving. But Russell hopes that the dedication he shows in this video will preempt any negative consequences.

"How could they fire me over posting this," he says.  "They could give me a fucking gold medal or like a free car or something."