Something something man bites dog?

An Uber driver is claiming that he was the victim of a beating – at the hands of a Boston police officer.

The driver says that he was dropping of 40-year-old Michael Doherty, a 16-year veteran of the force, at his determined destination. But according to the driver, Doherty became enraged – claiming he was dropping him off at the wrong location.

Things got pretty ugly from there. From Boston.com:

The driver said when he exited the vehicle, the passenger got into the front seat and drove off, according to the statement

The driver was assisted by a passing motorist and the two followed the victim’s vehicle to E. 1st Street and Farragut Road where the suspect stopped and exited the victim’s car, according to the statement.

At that point, according to a police report … the suspect yelled racial slurs at the man who provided help to the Uber driver then knocked the Uber driver to the ground and kept hitting him.

Doherty has a different recollection of the events, and according to the Boston Globe, claims that he was in fact the victim in the altercation.

From the Globe:

Doherty, who had a black eye and wore a sling on his left arm, pleaded not guilty in South Boston District Court to charges of assault and violating his victims’ civil rights. His lawyer, Kenneth Anderson, said he “disputes these charges vigorously.”

“I suggest he was really the victim in this matter,” Anderson said of his client. Anderson said Doherty had torn a tendon in his bicep in the altercation.

Doherty has been placed on paid administrative leave.

This marks the first time in a while that an Uber driver is in the news for being the victim of an assault, instead of the perpetrator.