Atlanta basketball reporter Tabitha Turner allegedly pepper-sprayed, assaulted by Uber driver Nicole Smith on side of highway

An Atlanta-based NBA and WNBA reporter claims she was pepper-sprayed and physically assaulted by an Uber driver during a violent altercation on the side of the highway, and is now facing online threats because of the incident.

Tabitha Turner, the team reporter for the Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta Dream, was picked up from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Saturday by driver Nicole Smith.

“I just wanted to go home from work and see my daughter. I’ve got threats,” Turner told reporters Wednesday at a press conference. “I didn’t ask for this.”

Turner says she had ordered an Uber Comfort, which allows passengers to choose the type of experience for their drive, including the desired interior temperature.

Turner and her attorney claim she had selected to have a “cool” ride with the windows up and air conditioning on.

“One thing that she noticed when her Uber pulled up, right off the rip, was that this clearly wasn’t a comfort vehicle,” Turner’s lawyer, Miguel Dominquez, told reporters.

“She was a little thrown off giving what she inputted into the app, that there was no air conditioning on and the windows were down and we’ve got 90-degree plus weather out there,” he added.

As Smith drove northbound on I-85, Turner asked the driver to roll the windows up and turn on the A/C to match what she requested, Dominquez said.

Smith allegedly got upset by the request and pulled over into the emergency lane of the highway and told Turner to get out of her car, Fox 5 Atlanta reported, citing police.

The driver’s excuse for not closing the windows was that she liked to leave the windows down in case passengers are sick, Turner told reporters.

The quick-thinking reporter pulled out her phone and began recording the roadside interaction with Smith, telling the irritated driver she wouldn’t get out of the car unless Smith refunded the fare or police were called.

Smith turned around and pepper-sprayed her passenger in the face, according to video captured by Turner and obtained by the outlet.

The agitated chauffeur got out of the car, rushed to the rear passenger-side door and yanked Turner out of the car before “physically assaulting her.”

A passerby had pulled over and began recording the altercation, later providing video evidence to the police.

Investigators, using both Turner’s and the witness’s footage, determined Smith was the aggressor.

An arrest warrant was issued for Smith. She faces charges of battery and simple battery.

“To pull over on the expressway suddenly, in the emergency lane with vehicles flying by, and to decide you’re going to tell the passenger, ‘You need to get out with your bags on the side of the expressway,’ is not a reasonable request by any stretch of the imagination,” Dominquez said.

“It was unsafe for her to do so, and it was completely unreasonable,” he added.

Smith took to social media to tell her side of the altercation, claiming her actions were done in self-defense because Turner allegedly had a gun, the driver said in a video viewed over a million times, according to AtlantaNewsFirst.

Turner asserts Smith began harassing her on social media after the altercation, claiming the reporter was at fault for the highway beatdown.

“I’ve received threats via social media about my karma that’s coming to me,” Turner said, fighting back tears. “Defaming my character, calling me all kinds of names. Saying things about why I attacked her and just how horrible of a person I am.”

Turner, who welcomed her first child with her husband back in May 2024, says some of the insults attacked her as a mother, as the online bullies even reached out to her coworkers.

“I have a 1-year-old daughter that I like to take to the games with me and I can’t take her because I don’t know who’s going to be there to attack me,” Turner said.

The reporter thanked the WNBA’s Dream for providing additional security for her.

Dominquez says it was an isolated event, but believes he might find a pattern when he starts looking into the process on how Uber drivers are selected.

“What we may find is that there is a pattern here of charging customers an elevated amount for a particular type of ride, and actually not being able to fulfill that ride that’s being purchased,” Dominquez said.

The Post has reached out to Uber for comment.