Man Attempts Citizen’s Arrest of Australia UberX Driver

The
battle against app-based ride sharing has taken an unusual turn,
with an Australian limo driver attempting to place an UberX driver
under citizen’s arrest. The man at the center of the affair is
Russel Howarth, a Sydney–based limo driver who has begun a one-man
vigilante campaign against UberX, despite using Uber to arrange his
own passenger bookings.

Howarth has created a website and Twitter account, @ArrestingUber, to protest
the existence of UberX, a lower-cost service that was introduced in
Sydney in April. He claims that UberX drivers are operating outside
the law and decided on Thursday to take enforcement into his own
hands.

Gizmodo Australia reports:

Police told us this afternoon that at approximately 4pm AEDT, a
man made a booking through a car sharing service, and during the
travel accused the driver of being unlicensed while also driving an
unregistered vehicle.

Police added that after the accusation was made, the passenger
requested to be taken to Newtown Police Station. Upon arrival the
passenger requested that the driver accompany him inside.

The UberX driver was promptly released after checks revealed he
was properly licensed and was diving a registered vehicle. But
police were less than pleased with Howarth’s vigilantism, as he
quickly discovered:

“[When I went to the station today] the police advised me I
had no right to perform a citizen’s arrest. They then threatened to
arrest me if I didn’t drop the action…”

Uber has dismissed the event as a “publicity stunt.” However,
this Travis
Bickle wannabe has stated that he intends to continue harassing
UberX drivers as they attempt to make an honest living for
themselves and their families:

“I’m going to continue to arrest UberX drivers until the
Government gets serious about regulations…It isn’t a stunt. This is
just a warm-up. I will be doing this every day.”

Perhaps if he put as much effort into serving his customers, he
wouldn’t feel the need to act out crime fighting fantasies. Then
again, this is a reminder of how far people will go to protect
their monopoly privileges.