An irate Uber Eats driver punched two sisters outside their Bronx jewelry store, knocking one unconscious, when a Thanksgiving evening argument over their delivery turned violent, police and one of the victims said.
Camil Abreu, 18, said she and her 22-year-old sister Stiverlyn Abreu ordered $68 worth of food and paper products from the Jazmin Jewelry store in Kingsbridge Heights on Wednesday around 3 p.m. and requested that the delivery person take their items to the store would bring.
But he refused — even when the sisters repeatedly pulled him in — and became angry when Camil came out to confront him, said the teen, who works part time at her older sibling’s store on Jerome Avenue, near East 204th Street.
‘He’s starting to have fun [of me]getting close to me, like he’s trying to settle things with me, he’s trying to throw punches as soon as I said something,” she told The Post in a phone interview on Friday.
When Stiverlyn then went outside and told the delivery person to bring the order inside, he responded, “I don’t have to do this,” Camil said.
“Then he said he was part of some gang,” she recalled. “He kept mentioning them and my sister [said]”I’ll just cancel the order.” Like, I just call Uber Eats and let them know what happened.”
As the apparent threats continued, Stiverlyn tried to grab the bags, Camil said.
But the seething delivery person wasn’t about to give up anytime soon — and pushed Stiverlyn’s hand, causing the bags to fall to the floor, Camil said.
“We still haven’t done anything because we weren’t trying to touch him,” Camil said. “We just tried not to get close to him. And so then… he takes the groceries we paid for. He grabs the groceries and tries to leave.”
The sisters ran after him – realizing that the keys to the jewelry store had fallen into one of the bags – while the delivery person allegedly made more threats, Camil said.
“We kept saying, ‘I don’t care,’ trying to shut him up, get him to leave,” the teen recalled.
‘Then he turned around. He punched my sister in the face twice, and then he punched her once in the jawline. Then she fell to the ground.”
After allegedly hitting Stiverlyn, Camil said, “I kept trying to hit him with the keys, and I did, and I got to hit him in the face once.”
“Then he hit me too. He punched me in the neck.”
Stiverlyn suffered a concussion and was hospitalized for a few hours before being released, her sister said.
“Her mouth was busted and… her face was swollen,” Camil said.
The delivery person came away with the sisters’ order – which included a liter of milk, a red pepper, cooked salami jamonada, an avocado, an onion, carrots, plantains, pasta, Lays chips and two Bounty rolls of paper towels, Camil said.
An Uber spokesperson called the delivery driver’s behavior “unacceptable.”
“Violence of any kind will not be tolerated on the Uber platform. We have been in contact with the customer and have removed the driver’s access to the platform, they told The Post on Friday evening.
“We are supporting law enforcement with their investigation.”
The broad daylight attack disrupted Thanksgiving plans for the Abreu sisters, especially Stiverlyn, who slept most of the day.
“She’s the type of person [who] cares a lot about her face,” Camil said.
“So the fact that she has a swollen face and… scratches on her face, she didn’t really want to be seen.”
It was also difficult for Stiverlyn to enjoy the Thanksgiving Day celebration because of injuries to her mouth, her sister said.
“It’s still a little hard for her to eat because she can’t really open her mouth.” So we didn’t see her on Thanksgiving because she didn’t want to be seen.”
Camil did not require hospital treatment, although the attack did cause some pain in the left side of her head, she said.
The attack has left her and Stiverlyn — who have lived in the Bronx for seven years — afraid to go outside, she said.
‘I only take taxis at the moment. I don’t really feel like taking the train or going outside,” Camil said.
“Since it happened, this is the first time I’ve left my house because I had to come here to the jewelry store for Black Friday.”
As for Stiverlyn, Camil said, “My sister doesn’t want to come out.”
“She doesn’t really want to be seen,” Camil added.
‘And she’s a little scared too. Because [the suspect] threatened that he would come back if he left.
The NYPD released surveillance video of the suspect and described him as approximately 6 feet tall, with a slim build, long braided hair and a beard.
He was last seen wearing a blue Yankee hat, blue jacket, blue jeans and white and black sneakers.
Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or in Spanish: 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
