Community rallies around Oregon Lyft driver after racist attack leaves him unable to work

Concerned Portlanders helped raise money and find work for a Lyft driver who was attacked by a racist passenger and subsequently unable to work.

Portland's KPTV reported that driver Parsham Rabiee was told by doctors that his head wounds were so severe that he could not drive -- thus cutting him off from his sole source of income.

According to police, the racist passenger who attacked Rabiee in the Portland suburb of Gresham kicked and punched him so badly that his nose was broken and he was bruised.

The driver said two men he picked up last week appeared to be intoxicated and were "acting erratically," calling him racial slurs and making fun of the music he was playing. They also called him a "stupid Middle Easterner," he told KPTV.

He got out of the car when the young men arrived at their destination to help the more sober one carry his intoxicated friend when the less drunk one -- who is white and between the ages of 18 and 20 -- attacked him.

Police, the report noted, are not investigating the attack as a "bias crime" and claim they don't know why it occurred.

After the story was first reported, a GoFundMe page was set up for Rabiee and has already surpassed its goal of $1,500.

KPTV reporter Brenna Kelly tweeted that someone reached out to her about a potential job opportunity for Rabiee as well after learning that he was injured too badly to drive for work.

"I am so in awe of the generosity of Portlanders," she wrote. "Last night, I covered the story of @lyft driver Parham Rabiee who was brutally beaten by one of his riders. Today, I receive this message from @portlandfashion wanting to offer Parham a job."