NBC 7’s Steven Luke talks with Harry Gillung about the moment he was jumped while taking a break from his job with the ride-hailing service Lyft.
A San Diego Lyft driver shares how he was sitting inside his car and checking his Facebook feed when he was pistol-whipped in what he thought was a safe area.
The attack happened at 10:10 p.m. Monday night along Camino Del Rio South, a street full of hotels and restaurants hugging Interstate 8 in Mission Valley.
Harry Gillung’s face was battered in the incident.
“I got staples, stitches and glue and they patched me up," he said Tuesday.
Gillung said he got lost in his Facebook feed just before the attack but after what happened next, he'll never lose track of his surroundings and safety again.
By the time investigators collected evidence, he was already getting stitched up at Mercy Hospital.
A day later the local Lyft driver returned to the exact spot of the attack where he'd parked his Silver Prius for a quick rest in a quiet spot between fares.
He sat in the passenger seat to stretch his legs.
He said he, “was actually watching some silly little video about a bear with its head caught in a jar and people trying to free it."
Suddenly Gillung said a large man slammed his hands on the front hood.
Gillung quickly reached to lock the door but instead opened the window which is when a second man reached in and grabbed him.
"The gun was in this hand," Gillung recalled. "They're trying to pull me out of the car, the doors were locked, thank God."
The men demanded cash and made off with $40.
However, they left a critical clue behind – a hand print on the hood of the car.
"I noticed this this morning," Gillung said. “I wonder if [the police] got a print off that?"
San Diego Police are investigating the robbery. No arrests have been made.
Gillung said he hopes others will learn from his experience.
"I just hope the experience, someone else can realize or think about where they are before they lose themselves in a distraction," Gillung said.
