A terrified Uber driver was left stranded for two hours after his car was struck by a knifeman while police failed to turn up. Arbab Shahzad was returning to Manchester Airport after dropping passengers off in the city centre when he accepted another job along the way.
The 35-year-old pulled into Moss Side from Princess Road and picked up a group of passengers who appeared to have left a party at around 3.15am. But moments later, the group scarpered after the car was chased by a man wielding a large knife, who used the weapon to burst one of the Uber's tyres while it moved at low speed.
"For the next two hours I was literally shaking," Arbab told the Manchester Evening News. "What could have happened to me? It's just unbelievable.
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"I've been doing Uber since last September. Manchester is, to me, a safe place no matter what time it is. I have never come across this kind of situation before."
Arbab says he 'didn't really feel safe' when he first arrived, as he noticed a group of '15 to 20 people' gathered on a corner, including a 'majority who had balloons' for nitrous oxide. The driver considered cancelling the job, but soon saw the group of three male and three female passengers waving at him to stop his Uber XL people carrier.
After picking the group up, Arbab noticed one of the passengers holding a 'cigarette' and says he got a 'really strong smell of weed', but the passenger reassured him he wouldn't smoke it. Arbab drove around 200 yards to the junction of Hartington Street and Greame Street when the drama began to unfold.
He said: "One of the girls starts saying 'drive, drive, drive'. In my mirror I realised someone was chasing my car.
"When I looked at the side mirror there was a guy with a hoody literally chasing my car with a big, massive knife. He was hitting something on my car."
Arbab says he heard a 'banging noise', before warning lights appeared on his dashboard. The man used the knife 'with force' to burst one of the tyres, and Arbab believes the offender was known to the group inside the car.
"One of the girls said 'why did he do that?'," he said. "My phone was connected to Bluetooth, so they heard me call 999.
"I asked for police and they started saying 'why have you called the police?'. They cancelled the ride on the Uber app, jumped out of the car and started running."
After explaining the situation to Greater Manchester Police, Arbab says he was told to lock the car and wait for an officer to arrive. He stayed in the same spot for two hours, but police never arrived.
Eventually another taxi driver came to Arbab's aid, helping him to change his tyre before he could drive home at 5.15am, before GMP called him later in the day. "I was really, really scared," said Arbab.
"How is it possible that someone is walking round the streets with a big, massive knife? The experience I've gone through, I don't want anyone else to go through this situation.
"Nobody came to me to ask if everything was OK. What if somebody had come and stabbed me?"
GMP confirmed today (June 13) that no arrests have been made so far following the incident, which took place on May 30. A spokesperson for GMP added: "The investigation into this incident is still ongoing and we are working hard to identify who ever is responsible for this attack.
"We have been working with the victim and have taken a statement from him which is assisting us in our enquiries." Information can be passed on to GMP by calling 101, using the LiveChat feature on the force's website, or by contacting Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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