Ride share driver, Albert Boakye, 46, was arrested late last night and is now charged with misdemeanor assault for allegedly physically removing a passenger, country artist Clare Dunn, from his vehicle on Highway 70 South on June 26 after the two reportedly argued over a missed turn.
According to Dunn, after Boakye missed the turn, he became very angry and stopped on the side of the road where he forcibly removed her from the vehicle and then grabbed her by the neck before throwing her to the ground. She sustained bruises and lacerations to her head. The driver fled the scene.
Dunn provided a photo of Boakye from her rideshare app and detectives were able to positively identify him as the suspect.
“This has been hell,” the “Move On” singer told People magazine. “We were barreling towards the interstate and I spoke up and was like, ‘Hey, that was my turn. Where are you going? You need to take the next right turn. He was screaming at me. I couldn’t really make it out — his English wasn’t the best. And I just knew in that moment that I wasn’t going to get on that interstate with him. I wasn’t going to go quietly where he wanted to take me. And I think he realized maybe this girl was going to be more trouble than s he’s worth.”
“Before I could even get my shoes off or get my phone to try and call 911, he grabbed me by the collar, ripped me out of the backseat and slammed me face-first down into a ditch,” Dunn recalled. “Somehow in the scuffle, I thought I called 911, but I didn’t even get the number right. But it was a miracle. They called me back. And when I came to, I was screaming, and I saw headlights. He ended up just leaving me alone at that point and took off.”
Boakye is free on $1,000 bond.
