NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — An Uber cab driver was caught on video getting berated by a man claiming to be a police officer in the West Village this week.
But as CBS2’s Ilana Gold reported, investigators late Tuesday confirmed that the man was indeed with the NYPD, but did not disclose his position or whether he was a sworn officer.
A passenger in the Uber cab recorded the traffic stop on Tuesday afternoon and posted it to YouTube.
“Stop it with your mouth. Stop it with your: ‘For what sir, for what sir.’ Stop it with that bulls**t, and realize there are three vehicle traffic violations that you committed, OK?” the man claiming to be the officer says. “Do you understand me? I don’t know what f***ing planet you think you’re on right now.”
Warning: Strong Language
The man claiming to be the officer apparently leaves, and the passenger tells the driver he has the encounter on video, calling it “crazy” and “inappropriate” and advising the driver not to say anything.
The man claiming to be the officer then returns.
“I don’t care what you have to say. You understand that? People are allowed to park their cars on the side of the street without your interference, and then your opinion about what’s going on, OK? Especially when the person you’re doing it to are the police,” he tells the driver.
“The only reason why you’re not in handcuffs and going to jail, and getting summonses in the precinct, is because I have things to do. That’s the only reason that’s not happening, because this isn’t important enough for me. You’re not important enough,” the man claiming to be the cop says.
The man claiming to be the officer is wearing a suit and no badge. He is driving an unmarked Hyundai with a flashing purplish blue light in the windshield, and supposedly pulls over the driver for honking at him because he did not use a blinker.
At one point, he asks the Uber driver how long he has been in this country. The driver replies, “almost two years.”
Sources initially told CBS2 the man claiming to be the cop was not with the NYPD at all, and authorities did not know who he was. But police later followed up and said the man was, in fact, with the NYPD.
CBS2 tried talking to the passenger who posted that video at his office in Union Square. He would not speak with CBS2, but on his Twitter account, he said it was a matter between law enforcement and Uber.
According to Uber, the driver did not want to comment. But the company issued a statement: “The behavior in this video is wrong and unacceptable, and we appreciate the NYPD investigating the incident.”
