Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver

California's premier full-service law firm with an emphasis on the representation of peace officers in disciplinary, criminal, labor, workers' compensation, personal injury and other civil matters.

  • About Us
  • Practice Areas
    • Labor Representation
    • Civil Litigation
    • Personal Injury
      • Example of Case Results
    • Workers’ Compensation
    • DOE Security Clearance Hearings
    • Peace Officers
    • Firefighters
    • EMS Agency Investigations
    • Criminal Defense
    • CalPERS Appeals
  • Our Team
  • Classes
  • Media
    • Bulletins
    • RLS in the News
  • Resources
    • Links
    • Resources
    • Newsletters
  • Clients
  • Contact Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy

San Francisco Uber Driver Charged With Attacking Passenger With Hammer

September 29, 2014 by Hien Nguyen

From: CBS

9/26/14

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — A driver for the ridesharing service Uber has pleaded not guilty to charges he seriously injured a passenger by attacking him with a hammer in San Francisco earlier this week.

26-year-old Patrick Karajah, a driver for Uber X, is accused in the alleged hammer assault. District Attorney George Gascon said Karajah hit one of his passengers in the head after an argument.

Karajah picked up two men and a woman at a San Francisco nightclub Tuesday morning at around 2:00 a.m. During the trip, the passengers started arguing about the route Karajah was taking,

One of the passengers, Roberto Chicas, told the driver he believed he was taking them too far out of the way. Harry Stern, the attorney who represents Chicas, said they were polite about it.

“They’re familiar with the city. They want to share the ride, they have certain spots they want to be dropped off and he’s taking them nowhere near that. So they politely complained first, and then their complaints get a little more adamant. To put it in a common way, he freaked out,” Stern told KPIX 5.

According to investigators, Karajah stopped the car at Alemany Boulevard at Ellsworth and told everybody to get out.

Authorities said Karjah hit Chicas in the head – near his eye – with a hammer, seriously injuring him.

When asked how Chicas was doing, Stern said, “He’s not doing well. I’m happy to say that he is recovering, but the pace isn’t good so far. The real concern, he is in serious danger of losing the eye and anybody can relate to that as being a horrible tragedy.”

Karahaj was arrested and was in court Thursday. He pleaded not guilty to two charges:  assault with a deadly weapon and battery with serious bodily injury.

Word of the attack comes a day after the Gascon and the Los Angeles district attorney sent letters to Uber and two other rideshare firms – Lyft and Sidecar –accusing them of multiple violations of the law and “a continuing threat to consumers and the public.”

Gascon said the companies are not following procedures that would keep them safe, such as background checks, saying he has evidence that people with significant criminal records are driving for some of these services.

Taxi companies are required by law to perform background checks.

“What is Uber doing to regulate their drivers? What kind of checks are they doing? What kind of background screening are they going to do? As far as I can tell, they’re completely unregulated at this point, and that should be a concern for everybody,” Stern said.

Karajah has no criminal background, Gascon said and is currently free on $125,000 bail.

In a statement sent to KPIX 5, Uber spokesperson Eva Behrend said:

“Safety is Uber’s #1 priority. We take reports like this seriously and are treating the matter with the utmost urgency and care. It is also our policy to immediately suspend a driver’s account following any serious allegations, which we have done. We stand ready to assist authorities in any investigation.”

Filed Under: RLS In The News Tagged With: harry-s-stern

Related News

  • RLS Managing Principal Harry S. Stern Wins Acquittal for Sheriff’s Captain James Jensen
  • Record $7.2M Verdict Against the University of California
  • Oakland Cops Fired Over Fatal Shooting Win Revival of Lawsuit
  • Sonoma Deputy Acquitted of Homicide and Felony Assault Charges
  • Former Sonoma County Sheriff's Deputy Not Guilty in 2019 Death of Bloomfield Man

Consultation Form

Offices across California to serve you.
Contact us now to schedule a consultation.
Contact form not loading? Click here!
Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, PC publishes this website as a service to our clients and other friends for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as a substitute for specific legal advice or opinions, and the transmission of information through this website is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship between sender and receiver. Internet subscribers and online readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. By providing a telephone number and submitting the form you are consenting to be contacted by SMS text message. Message & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out of further messaging.

© 2025 Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, PC. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer

Click here for our privacy policy. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Read our privacy policy for more details.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie settingsACCEPTREJECT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

Please read our full privacy policy by clicking here.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

Please see our privacy policy for more information.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
  • Contact Us

  • News Alerts

  • Privacy Policy

Official logo for Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver
Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver Logo
  • About Us
  • Practice Areas
    ▼
    • Labor Representation
    • Civil Litigation
    • Personal Injury
      ▼
      • Example of Case Results
    • Workers’ Compensation
    • DOE Security Clearance Hearings
    • Peace Officers
    • Firefighters
    • EMS Agency Investigations
    • Criminal Defense
    • CalPERS Appeals
  • Our Team
  • Classes
  • Media
    ▼
    • Bulletins
    • RLS in the News
  • Resources
    ▼
    • Links
    • Resources
    • Newsletters
  • Clients
  • Contact Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
Hotline phone numbers. Northern California: 925-609-1699. Southern California: 310-393-1486.