Lyft Driver Who Allegedly Assaulted Country Singer Clare Dunn Has Been Arrested
According to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, the Lyft driver who allegedly [...]
According to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, the Lyft driver who allegedly physically assaulted country singer Clare Dunn was arrested last week. Dunn recently revealed in an interview with PEOPLE that the driver assaulted her during a ride in June, and law enforcement sources told TMZ that the alleged attacker was identified as 46-year-old ride-share driver Albert Boakye.
There was a warrant out for his arrest, and online records showed that Boakye was arrested late on Monday, Aug. 9. He was charged with misdemeanor assault and was released after posting a $1,000 bond. Dunn told PEOPLE that she and a friend had ordered a ride home, and after Dunn's friend was dropped off, the singer became worried when the driver didn't take the route to her house that she had requested.
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"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,'" she said, adding that the driver became agitated. "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 she's worth."
The driver eventually pulled the car over one mile from Dunn's home, and the singer said that before she "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."
"Somehow, in the scuffle, I thought I called 911, but I didn't even get the number right," she continued. "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." The 34-year-old's face was left bruised and bleeding, and she went to the emergency room following the assault.
"I had that intuition that something was wrong, and I ignored it," she noted, recalling that both she and her friend having a feeling that something wasn't right. "The next morning, the friend I was in the car with was telling me, 'Oh my God, I had this feeling when I got out of that ride,'" Dunn shared. "She said, 'I so wanted to just tell you to get out.'"
The "Holding Out for a Cowboy" singer hopes that her story can help others keep themselves safe. She shared lessons, including taking screenshots of driver's information on rideshare apps and taking photos of their license plates before getting in the car. Lyft said in a statement that it was assisting with the investigation.