PHOENIX — Phoenix police say a woman was arrested after running over a medical rideshare driver and killing him Tuesday evening.
Officials say it happened just after 5 p.m. near 40th Street and Baseline Road.
According to police, a vehicle was found stopped next to a canal and a man was found on the ground near the vehicle with "obvious signs of trauma."
Police say 31-year-old Jordan Spalding was found in the driver's seat. The man, identified as 74-year-old Samuel Webster, was taken to a hospital where he later died from his injuries.
According to police, Webster was a rideshare driver who gave Spalding a ride, and "during the transport, an altercation between the two occurred."
According to police documents, Spalding said Webster had attempted to attack her.
A witness reported seeing a man push a woman to the ground before the woman got into the car and hit the man several times.
Multiple other witnesses reported seeing the man trying to get away from the vehicle, with the woman yelling several times that he “tried to rape her," according to documents.
Spalding told police the driver did not drive her directly to the clinic as directed, and a case manager for Spalding’s appointment verified time and location discrepancies from the original trip request.
Spalding admitted to using fentanyl earlier in the day and investigators did not find any evidence of an assault upon Spalding, documents say.
Spalding was booked into jail and faces second-degree murder charges.
The incident remains under investigation.
