Shuttle driver charged with simple battery of passenger
An airport shuttle driver was arrested after an incident involving a 21-year-old woman he was driving to a motel after she missed a connecting flight, according to police and the woman's mother.
The name of the driver, who was charged with simple battery, was not available because so little time had passed since his arrest early Wednesday, according to College Park police spokesman George Williams.
Sandy Surber of Corpus Christi, Texas, said her daughter, Tiffany Lee, was returning to North Carolina after visiting her family and was to have connected on a flight to New Bern, N.C., in Atlanta.
The flight from Texas was late leaving so she missed her connection, Surber said.
Delta Air Lines gave Lee a voucher for a room at a motel on Virginia Avenue, near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and a shuttle to get there.
Surber, speaking for her daughter who was in transit Wednesday morning, said the motel was closed.
“He started hitting on her,” Surber said.
The driver asked her for her phone number and invited her to dinner.
“He leaned back and touched her leg,” Surber said. “When he asked for her number she thought he was going to kill her. She honest to God thought she was going to die because of where he was taking her.”
They drove around for several hours and then he returned her to the airport, where she spent the night, Surber said.
