Imagine, for a moment, that you used a ride-share app to call for a lift somewhere, as many people who travel often do. You have a dog with you. For one reason or another, the driver who answers your request doesn't want your dog in his car. What would be the logical thing for the driver to do? Say, "Excuse me, no animals," and drive away.
That's not what happened to Bryan Kobel. No, Mr. Kobel had an Uber driver object to his dog, and instead of just driving away, he knocked Mr. Kobel unconscious. And just to make things even more egregious? The Uber driver is an illegal alien.
A biotech CEO is taking Uber to court after an illegal immigrant driver was caught on camera violently assaulting him in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, sending his dog crashing to the pavement.
The driver is now in ICE custody and awaiting repatriation.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in Charleston County, alleges TC BioPharm CEO Bryan Kobel, 45, suffered a concussion in April after Uber driver and illegal Russian national Vadim Nikolaevich Uliumdzhiev, 42, attacked him in a King Street restaurant parking lot.
Uliumdzhiev was arrested and released on a $10,000 bond for second-degree assault and battery, according to Charleston County Sheriff’s Office records. He was later placed on an immigration hold after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Georgia, according to Kobel’s attorneys.
Mr. Kobel was hospitalized with head injuries, presumably from when he hit the pavement. He reportedly suffered a concussion and lacerations requiring several staples.
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Why is he suing Uber? Because, following this incident, despite Mr. Kobel providing the police report and witness accounts, Uber saw fit to deal with the matter by canceling and deactivating his account.
However, unlike Kobel, Uliumdzhiev's night was not over after the attack. Kobel said he picked up a new ride two minutes after speeding off.
"This man violently assaults me, leaves me effectively bleeding out from my head in a parking lot, speeds off and picks somebody up two minutes later," Kobel said. "When I left the hospital, my account had been suspended, and within 48 hours, it had been deactivated. Despite me sharing hospital records, police records, the detective's name and phone number and images of the assault, Uber chose to effectively victim-blame me and vilify me."
Mr. Kobel spoke with Fox News on Saturday:
OUTRAGEOUS 🚨
— @Chicago1Ray 🇺🇸 (@Chicago1Ray) August 30, 2025
An Uber driver here illegally from Russia sucker punches this guy and puts him in the hospital after refusing him a ride bc of his service dog
He wakes up in the hospital to learn his Uber acct was suspended & the illegal had a fare two mins later
He's filed… pic.twitter.com/799n0cLIwA
This could hardly be a worse public relations debacle for Uber. Not only did they retain an illegal alien, but they retained a man who took them in with a fake driver's license. They clearly did not vet this individual, and when he assaulted a would-be customer, Uber reacted by canceling the customer's account?
Vadim Nikolaevich Uliumdzhiev, we should not be surprised to learn, crossed the southern border into California - a sanctuary state - and was caught but allowed to remain in the United States by the "Autopen Joe" Biden administration. He, at least, should soon be on his way back to Russia. But Bryan Kobel's beef with Uber is far from over, and we will follow the progress of this case with great interest.
Meanwhile, if you need a ride somewhere, might we suggest Lyft?
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump, illegal immigration into our great country has virtually stopped. Despite the radical left's lies, new legislation wasn't needed to secure our border, just a new president.
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