WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Records show the man at the center of this suit is simply known as “Kamruzzaman,” with no first name.
The lawsuit claims Lyft is "negligent for failing to conduct a proper, adequate and sufficient background check.”
The lawsuit also claims Kamruzzaman was driving for Lyft on Heights Road in Jupiter on Thanksgiving when the car he was driving rear-ended another vehicle. It was a crash that according to the passenger's attorney, left his client needing back surgery.
I checked Kamruzzaman’s driving record.
The Florida Highway Patrol last year cited him for driving 98 miles per hour on Interstate 95, where the posted speed limit was 65 mph. He pleaded no contest.
The speeding incident happened six months before his crash in Jupiter. However, the suit claims that’s not the only event that should have kept Lyft from employing Kamruzzaman as a driver.
He made headlines in New York City from 2015 to 2018.
After a sexual assault on city subway, police circulated a picture of a man authorities say was Kamruzzaman running shirtless away from a subway station.
I checked Kamruzzaman’s background in New York where he’s been convicted of two sex crimes, and a probation violation, and spent two years in prison before moving to Florida.
I emailed Lyft to find out about Kamruzzaman's hiring and if the company conducted a background check. The rideshare company did not respond.
West Palm Beach Attorney Scott Smith represents the man suing Lyft who emailed us the following:
“On Thanksgiving Day of 2023, my client entrusted Lyft to provide him with a safe, qualified and legitimate driver and mode of transportation. Unfortunately, Lyft failed my client by sending an unsafe, disqualified, and incompetent driver to pick him up. Lyft's gross negligence in allowing Kamruzzaman access to their network and in assigning him to drive my client is the root cause of why this massive crash occurred and also the direct cause of my client’s serious and permanent injuries.”
Kamruzzaman has been in the Palm Beach County Jail for two and a half months, charged with failing to register as a sex offender.
I also was contacted by the other nationwide ride share company Uber, who emailed me Kamruzzaman applied to drive for that service in 2023, and that Uber turned him down after a background check.
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