Palm Coast man who tore down plastic barrier, attacked Lyft driver sentenced to 90 days in jail

A Palm Coast man who ripped down a plastic barrier and attacked a Lyft driver in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic was sentenced on Wednesday to 90 days in the county jail.

On May 25, a jury convicted Travis Smith, 38, of misdemeanor battery for the attack on the Lyft driver.  But the jury found Smith not guilty of burglary of an occupied conveyance, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The prosecutor had argued at trial that Smith committed the burglary of a conveyance when he broke through the barrier separating the front seat of the vehicle from the back seat.

Besides the 90 days in jail, Circuit Judge Terence Perkins adjudicated Smith guilty and sentenced him to six months probation once he is released.

"I just think that they followed the evidence to a correct verdict in this case," Perkins said about the jury.

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Smith must also attend anger management class and undergo a substance abuse evaluation and treatment, the judge said.

Smith must also write an apology letter to the Lyft driver but besides that is prohibited from having any contact with the man.

Smith can seek early termination of the probation once he meets all the conditions and does not violate any of the terms. Those conditions include restitution which will be set at a yet-to-be-scheduled hearing, although the prosecutor said it came to $1,987.62.

Driver's dash-cam footage of 2020 attack was focal point of trial

One of the focal points of the trial was the Lyft driver’s dash camera video which recorded the incident just after 12:15 a.m. on Aug. 2, 2020, near Belle Terre and Royal Palms parkways.

Smith was one of three passengers in the backseat of the Lyft car along with a friend and his friend's son who were visiting Smith from out of state.

The driver, Nihat Yalcin Aksezer, a Palm Coast resident who was 47 at the time, picked up the trio in Flagler Beach and was driving them to Smith’s residence along Rockne Lane, according to deputies.

Aksezer had installed the plastic partition which was intended to protect him from COVID-19.

The video captured Smith first asking about the plastic partition and then eventually tearing through the sheeting and attacking Aksezer before Aksezer manages to stop the car. The child can be heard screaming in the video.

During the sentencing hearing, Assistant State Attorney Tara Libby asked that Smith be sentenced to 364 days in jail or at least 180 days in jail followed by six-months probation.

She also asked for a substance abuse evaluation and treatment, no contact with the victim and a letter of apology.

She said that, besides attacking the Lyft driver in the car, Smith also attacked him outside the car.

And Libby said Smith had been misleading during his testimony at the trial by repeatedly responding to questions “not in that video,” suggesting there was some other video about the incident. But there was no other video, she said.

She said Smith was clearly intoxicated that night.

Libby added it was only at Wednesday's hearing when Smith was before the court for sentencing that he said he regretted what had happened.

Libby said the victim no longer carries passengers because of Smith’s attack and now only works for DoorDash and Uber Eats.

Defense attorney Philip Bonamo, asked that Smith receive a sentence of time served.

Bonamo said that Smith had asked the Lyft driver to stop the car and let them out but the driver had not done so. He also asked that adjudication be withheld.

Bonamo said Smith comes from a “good family” and has been in the community for a while.

"He is somebody who has a future," Bonamo said.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Palm Coast man who attacked Lyft driver gets 90 days in jail