Uber Driver Charged With Attacking OU Student During Ride From Campus Corner

Cleveland County prosecutors accused a Lawton man of attacking an OU student during an Uber ride from Campus Corner.  

John Butler Jr., 41, was charged last week with assault and destruction of evidence stemming from an incident on April 30.  

A female OU student entered Butler’s vehicle and was immediately attacked, according to a probable cause affidavit written by Lt. John Bishop of the University of Oklahoma Police Department.  

The affidavit claims Butler immediately “locked the vehicle doors and struck the victim on the left side of her head with enough force to knock her unconscious.”  

“Butler is a 22-year infantry combat veteran of the US Army. Butler has been trained in hand-to-hand combat tactics,” Bishop wrote in the affidavit.  

The victim eventually was able to escape when the vehicle was stopped and contacted the police. She had left her phone in the car, which officers tracked to a Norman home.  

At the home, officers found Butler washing bloody clothes that he was allegedly wearing during the assault.  

Butler did not have an attorney listed on online court records and has not yet entered a plea on the charges.  

During an interview with police, Butler “admitted to assaulting the victim in his vehicle, transporting the victim in his vehicle, knowingly concealing the defendant’s phone inside his property with the intent of disposing of the phone at a later time, washing his clothes to destroy evidence, and making false statements to the police while they investigated this crime,” according to the affidavit.  

A Cleveland County judge on Tuesday reduced Butler’s bond from $75,000 to $55,000 with conditions that he does not provide any taxi service or contact the victim. He must also complete PTSD treatment, according to court documents.  

A spokesperson for Uber said the company removed Butler’s access to the app immediately after learning of the incident.  

“There is no excuse for this disturbing behavior and our hearts are with the rider as she recovers,” Uber Spokesperson Sarah Casasnovas said in an email to News 9. “The driver no longer has access to the app, and we are assisting law enforcement on their investigation.”  

The University of Oklahoma offers two free safety services, SafeWalk and SafeRide, to students looking for help getting home during overnight hours.