Food supply driver leaves man in a coma after attacking him for unusual motive

A pensioner was battered into a coma and required part of his skull to be surgically removed after a DoorDash driver allegedly attacked him for asking him to reduce his speed in the neighbourhood.

Lloyd Poole, 75, from Michigan, confronted the delivery driver at the bottom of his driveway in Wixom – roughly 30 miles from Detroit – on December 28 to ask him to slow down whilst driving through the residential street, WXYZ reported.

The DoorDash driver, named as Ryan Turner, then climbed out of his car and allegedly launched an assault on Poole, striking him in the head and sending him crashing to the ground.

Poole’s daughter, Jen Shaw, told the outlet: “My dad fell. Never got up. Never moved. And the DoorDash driver got back in his vehicle and drove away.”

Poole was rushed to hospital with a black eye and required emergency surgery to ease brain swelling, which meant surgeons had to remove part of his skull.

Poole has remained unconscious since being struck, Shaw said. “He’s not responding. He can’t talk. He’s not awake,” his daughter revealed. “We don’t know when he’s going to get out of this hospital bed. That may never happen.”

Turner, 40, later turned up at Wixom Police Department and confessed to striking Poole and abandoning him in the road, alleging he felt under threat during the confrontation after exiting his vehicle, according to law enforcement.

Officers said he also admitted to fleeing the scene. Turner was arrested and taken to Oakland County Jail. He was charged with one count of aggravated assault and posted a $35,000 bond on January 1.

In the wake of the alleged attack, a DoorDash spokesperson labelled the incident “absolutely appalling and unacceptable”.

“DoorDash has zero tolerance for violence, and we have permanently removed the individual’s access to the platform,” the spokesperson said. “We are working with local law enforcement to support their investigation to ensure justice is served.”

Turner has been booted off DoorDash’s platform following the incident.