A prominent Atlanta sports reporter says she was blinded by pepper spray and struck in the head by an Uber driver over a fight about the vehicle’s air conditioning.
Turner was en route home after being picked up at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport at about 3.40 p.m. on Saturday before the tussle broke out, her attorney, Miguel Dominguez, said at a news conference Wednesday.
Dominguez said Turner, a courtside reporter and analyst for the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks and WNBA’s Atlanta Dream, ordered an Uber Comfort that allows passengers to customize their ride, including climate controls, as temperatures soared past 90°F.
However, when the driver arrived, whom the police identified as Mericole Smith, the windows were allegedly rolled down and the AC had been switched off.
“One thing that she noticed when her Uber pulled up, right off the rip, was that this clearly wasn’t a comfort vehicle,” Dominguez said Wednesday.
During the drive, a “really hot” and “sweaty” Turner asked the driver to roll up the windows and blast the AC, Dominguez said.
In a TikTok video posted by Smith after the incident, which garnered millions of views, the driver claimed that she had switched on the air conditioning but left the windows cracked open due to concerns about sick passengers.
However, according to police, the request made Smith irate, leading her to suddenly pull over in the emergency lane on the expressway and demand that Turner get out of her vehicle.
The reporter whipped out her phone and began recording the heated exchange before posting the footage to her Instagram, which rapidly spread online.
The video showed Smith leaning into the back seat, cursing and screaming at Turner.
Dominguez said that Smith exited the car, removed Turner’s bags, and then attempted to “physically remove” the reporter. Smith then allegedly grabbed Turner’s bookbag, which ended up in a pair, “getting into a struggle.”
According to a Hapeville police report first obtained by Georgia Public Broadcasting, Smith pepper-sprayed Turner before she “swung and struck [Turner] in the head and upper torso.” The police report stated that Smith initiated the attack.
Doninguez told reporters that Smith also pulled out some of Turner’s hair.
A police investigator said they saw visible marks on Turner’s left shoulder and elbow and took two pepper spray containers from the reporter, one of which she had grabbed from the driver.
Blinded, the police said Turner then swung back in self-defense, scratching Smith’s face.
Smith alleged on TikTok that she used pepper spray in “self-defense” because Turner went “in her bag to get a weapon.” She also claimed that Turner tried “to gouge” her eye out, which she said left her needing stitches.
After Smith’s social media posts, Turner has been left facing a slew of public backlash and fearing that her job could be in jeopardy.
“I just wanted to go home from work and see my daughter. I’ve got threats,” Turner told reporters.
“I have opportunities with the league that I don’t know if they are going to happen now…,” she continued. “I didn’t ask for this.”
A warrant was issued for Smith’s arrest on misdemeanor charges of battery and simple battery.
Dominguez accused Smith of “lacing her narrative with falsehoods” and said it is “very likely” he will file a civil action relating to the incident.
The Independent has contacted the Hapeville Police Department and Uber for more information.
