Tacoma Uber Eats driver attacked with used syringe during attempted robbery, charges say

A 36-year-old woman attacked an Uber Eats driver with a used syringe Tuesday in Tacoma, according to court records.

Pierce County prosecutors charged the alleged attacker with attempted first-degree robbery Wednesday, and Superior Court Judge Kathryn Nelson ordered her held without bail while experts evaluate her competency to stand trial.

Charging papers give this account of what happened:

The driver went to pick up an order in the South 38th Street business area, and the defendant attacked her with an empty syringe as she returned to her car.

It looked like the victim’s neck had been pricked with the needle.

The driver screamed for help, and two bystanders pulled the defendant off her.

Police arrived and arrested the alleged attacker, whom one of the officers recognized from a Monday night incident.

In that instance, she had been screaming for help from the roof of a house during a rainstorm.

She wouldn’t come down, and ultimately firefighters arrived with a ladder truck.

She was tackled and sedated when she tried to run away and was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center to be involuntarily committed.

This story was originally published December 19, 2018 at 1:57 PM.