Uber driver jumps from moving vehicle following assault, deputies say

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An Uber driver is recovering after deputies say he jumped from a moving vehicle to get away from a passenger who was assaulting him. 

Jose Aguirre picked up his passenger, Anderson Carter, just after 7 p.m. in west Bradenton Monday evening, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

Aguirre explained to FOX 13 how things quickly turned violent.

"He was smoking this chemical smell...it was making me sick. I tried to put down the window and he socked me in the face," he said. "He kept on threatening me to, 'keep moving, keep moving or I'll stab you. There's somebody chasing us. Keep on going if you want to live.'"

Investigators said Carter attempted to get into the driver seat. In fear for his life, Aguirre told deputies he jumped from the car.

"I thought it was probably, 'I'm not going to be able to come home to my wife and family.' It was pretty scary," Aguirre recalled.

Carter took off in the vehicle and crashed into another car near Whitfield Avenue and 15th Street East. He then kept driving, eventually crashing into a retention pond in the 900 block 70th Drive East. 

Deputies said they chased Carter and were able to take him into custody after using an electronic control device. 

Carter was taken into custody and faces several charges including carjacking, false imprisonment and leaving the scene of a crash.