The Rev. Al Sharpton’s daughter got an unexpected gift early Saturday at her birthday celebration -- handcuffs for allegedly attacking a cab driver in New York City, according to reports.
Ashley Sharpton, 30, is accused of shoving and punching the cabbie after snatching his keys in midtown Manhattan just before 1 a.m., it was reported.
“She told me it didn't happen the way they said it happened but I can't speak for a 30-year-old woman,” the activist preacher told the New York Daily News. His daughter couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
The trouble started when Sharpton and three pals hailed the cab.
All jumped in and gave different destinations, confusing the cabbie who became annoyed and stopped the vehicle.
He told his passengers he wasn't going anywhere until they figured out where they wanted to go, the paper reported.
Cops said Sharpton, who was sitting next to the cabbie, then snatched the keys from the ignition and jumped out of the cab.
Things got physical when the cabbie got out and tried to grab the keys from Sharpton, telling her, “Give me my keys back,” cops told the New York Post.
“I don’t have your keys,” she allegedly spat before later admitting she tossed them, the paper reported.
One of her pals might have given her an awful birthday present by filming the encounter, according to the paper. Cops said the footage shows Ashley Sharpton punching the driver in the chest.
By the time cops arrived she had vanished. Cops found her two hours later on a nearby street.
She was issued a summons to appear in court at a later date, the Post reported. She was charged with petty larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
“Happy Birthday to my youngest, Ashley,” Sharpton tweeted Friday referring to his daughter. “A strong black woman and committed activist. So proud to be your Dad.”
Ashley Sharpton was one of 16 protesters arrested in January for blocking traffic outside Trump Tower to protest President Trump’s Supreme Court justice nominee Neil Gorsuch.
Prosecutors agreed in March to dismiss the arrest if she stayed out of trouble until Sept. 20, the New York Post reported at the time.