The man who mowed down eight people on the West Side Highway Tuesday afternoon was “very friendly” and working for Uber, his friend told The Post.
Kobiljon Matkarov, 37, met suspected terrorist Sayfullo Saipov in Florida about five years ago shortly after Saipov came from Uzbekistan– the two connected over their mutual heritage.
“He is very good guy, he is very friendly… he is like little brother… he look at me like big brother,” Matkarov said by phone Tuesday from his home in Miamisburg, Ohio.
Matkarov said he’d been working for Uber and living in New Jersey as recently as this summer.
Matkarov had a trip planned to Uzbekistan in June and was flying out of JFK with his five children and wife– he reached out to Saipov for a ride because he was nearby.
“He dropped me to the airport with my family… I called him and said I needed a ride.”
Matkarov said Saipov got along well with his five kids, who enjoyed playing with him.
“My kids like him too, he is always playing with them. He is playing all the time,” Matkarov remembered.
But when it came time for the family to say goodbye at the airport, Matkarov’s son asked for a picture with Saipov, and the 29-year-old refused.
“He no like that. He said no,” Matkarov said.
He was shocked when The Post told him Saipov mowed down eight people on the West Side Highway and didn’t know him to have any terrorist connections.