E-Paper
Who is Christen Phillips? DoorDash mom suffers skull fractures in North Carolina road rage attack
Christen Phillips, a DoorDash and Uber Eats driver in North Carolina, is hospitalized with skull fractures after a road rage attack.
Christen Phillips, a North Carolina mother of three who delivers for DoorDash and Uber Eats to support her family, is recovering after an alleged road rage attack left her with multiple skull fractures. Authorities say the suspect remains unidentified as investigators continue to search for the driver involved.
The incident occurred early Saturday in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and is being investigated by the Onslow County Sheriff's Office as a suspected road rage assault. Phillips, 34, is recovering at Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center after undergoing surgery for her injuries.
Who is Christen Phillips?
Christen Phillips is a 34-year-old mother of three from North Carolina. She told WWAY Station that she had been working as a DoorDash and Uber Eats driver between jobs to help supplement her family's income.
"I was supplementing income in the in-between by doing DoorDash and Uber Eats and stuff, so that's kind of how I ended up there that night," Phillips said.
She remains hospitalized after suffering multiple skull fractures during the alleged attack. She issued a statement after the incident.
“Did not expect to become Jacksonville famous in this way and I really appreciate everyone who has stuck up for me in the last few days. I’m obviously not lying about my injuries or trying to con people or get anyone in trouble who wasn’t actually involved. I am genuinely sorry to anyone that is caught up in this who wasn’t actually involved and I hope they find the actual person. I may need to stay off social media for a few days so I can just focus on healing. If you try reaching out to me and I don’t respond I apologize ahead of time. I am trying to steer clear of all the experts who are telling me what I should have or could have done or what they would have done in my situation. Just know I never in a million years thought something like this would happen to me and I didn’t really take a lot of time to make a game plan of action at the time. It’s really sad to read some things people are saying and I think the best thing for me right now is to take a break from social media until this blows over some. I love you all and thank you so much for your continued support!!”.
Phillips also provided information about her GoFundMe and shared pictures of her recovery.
She's from Jacksonville, North Carolina and lives in Kinston. Her education has been from Western Governors University and Phillips works as a Composite Technician at Airbus and as a Information Technology Technician (IT Technician) at Onslow County Schools, as per her Facebook page. Her children appear to be named Kaiden Blaise, Skyler Mae and Milton DeWayne III, though this could not be verified.
What really happened?
According to Phillips, the incident began around 1 am on Saturday while she was picking up a DoorDash order from a McDonald's near Jacksonville.
She said a Range Rover was stopped at a green light in a left-turn lane, prompting her to honk.
"And the person who was sitting there at the light was just sitting there, but the light was green, so I honked and he did go," Phillips recalled.
Phillips said the driver then allegedly followed her to the delivery address.
After reaching the customer's home around 2 am, she noticed the driver standing near her vehicle holding what she described as a wooden bat.
"I just remember saying to him, 'Are you intimidated by me? Because I don't think you need that. I'm half your size,'" she said. "And that's all I remember."
Phillips believes she lost consciousness after being struck. When she came to, she said the suspect had fled the scene.
"It was the middle of the night. I didn't want to wake anybody up, so I took off and just started driving toward the hospital because I wasn't sure what else to do," she said.
Hospital staff immediately admitted her for treatment after noticing she was covered in blood.
Doctors later diagnosed her with skull fractures.
"I had some fractures here on the left side of my head," Phillips said. "They had to do a pretty big incision."
Investigation continues
Onslow County Sheriff Christopher Thomas said investigators are working to identify the Range Rover and the people inside it. No arrests have been announced.
Authorities believe road rage may have been a factor in the assault and urged motorists to avoid confronting aggressive drivers.
"You never know what the person in another vehicle is going through or how they are going to react, so you should be careful," Thomas said, as quoted by WWAY Station.
Phillips also urged drivers to remain inside their vehicles if they feel threatened.
"I do honestly believe that when the guy hit me in the head and I was knocked out, I believe he thought I was dead and he left me for dead," she said. "It's a miracle I woke up."
The investigation remains ongoing, and the Onslow County Sheriff's Office has asked anyone with information about the incident or the Range Rover involved to come forward.
