Bloomingdale man, charged with hate crime, denies threatening Muslim Lyft driver
Steven McCuiston said Monday that he called a Lyft driver "a (expletive) Muslim" and "a (expletive) terrorist."
But he denied calling the driver, an Indian immigrant, "a (expletive) Muslim terrorist," nor did he threaten to kill her.
McCuiston, 61, testified at his trial on charges that he committed a hate crime March 8, 2019, in Bloomingdale.
The driver, a petite 53-year-old, testified she picked up McCuiston and his wife around 1:40 a.m. at a pub on Army Trail Road. She exited south through the parking lot to an interior road for the shopping center. She then turned on the first exit road. Left turns from that road are prohibited, so she turned right on to Army Trail.
That angered McCuiston, who had instructed her to proceed through the shopping center to another exit, where a left turn could be made.
The woman testified McCuiston began yelling profanities about her being Muslim, and, after she made a U-turn to go west on Army Trail, threatened to break her neck and kill her. She said he struck her in the shoulder while in the car, and that after she called 911, parked the car and got out, he followed and tried to punch her.
"It was very painful. It really hurts because this is my country," she said.
McCuiston said he did not know she was Muslim at first. He said he initially didn't even know if the driver was a woman, because she was so short he couldn't see her over the back of her seat.
She was not wearing any religious garb at the time.
McCuiston also said the driver was the first to mention race and her religion. He said after he angrily asked her why she didn't follow his directions, she became "crazy" and "she called us racist (expletive) pigs against Muslims" and "white racist pigs."
"She elevated it with her racist comments," he said.
He denied hitting the driver. "If I was hitting her she would not be able to be talking like that (with a 911 operator)," he testified.
McCuiston's attorneys said the woman is seeking money from McCuiston, via a lawsuit.
Defense attorney Steven Knight said McCuiston would have yelled at any other driver in a similar dispute.
"It had absolutely nothing to do with her being a Muslim. It had everything to do with the victim not driving where he directed her to go," Knight said.
"No chance he acts like that if she is not a Muslim female. She did not go the wrong way. She did not go the perfect way," Assistant State's Attorney Lee Roupas replied.
DuPage County Judge Jeffrey MacKay will announce his decision Thursday morning.