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Uber Driver Who Allegedly Killed In Kalamazoo Sues Company For $10 Million

DETROIT (AP/CBS Detroit) — A man charged with fatally shooting six people in southwestern Michigan interspersed with his stints as an Uber  driver told investigators he was being controlled by the ride-hailing app through his cellphone, police said.

And then Jason Dalton topped the complaint Wednesday by filing a lawsuit claiming Uber owes him $10 million for a litany of grievances.

The company "ripped me off, never paid me back wages or overtime," Dalton penned in his handwritten suit. "I busted my butt for them, they gave me no Christmas bonus, I wasn't invited to any corporate parties. They made me work when I was sick and didn't let me spend time with my two children."

See the entire complaint HERE.

According to a police report, Dalton told authorities after the Feb. 20 shootings in and around Kalamazoo that "it feels like it is coming from the phone itself" and told of something "like an artificial presence," the report said.

Dalton told officers that when you "plug into" the Uber app, "you can actually feel the presence on you." He said the difference between the night of the shootings and others was that an icon on the Uber app that is normally red "had changed to black."

He told investigators he "doesn't want to come across as a crazy person," and added he was sad for the people who were killed as well as for his family members, who "are going to have to hear all of this," according to the report.

The details about Dalton's comments are in documents released by the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety and Kalamazoo County sheriff's office in response to public records requests by The Associated Press and others.

Dalton, who has been ordered to undergo a mental competency exam, is charged with murder and attempted murder in the shootings outside an apartment complex, a restaurant and at a car lot. Two people survived. Investigators say Dalton didn't know the victims.

His attorney, Eusebio Solis, did not respond to an email Monday seeking comment on his client's behalf.

Uber security chief Joe Sullivan said last month that Dalton cleared a background check and was approved to be a driver on Jan. 25. He had given slightly more than 100 rides and had a rating of 4.73 stars out of a possible five. Until Feb. 20, Sullivan said, Uber had no reason to believe anything was amiss and that "no background check would have flagged and anticipated this situation."

Police dispatchers received a call from a man who said he and friends received a ride from Dalton around 10 p.m. on the evening of the shootings.

The man told police Dalton had difficulty connecting to the Uber site. Three witnesses described Dalton as "friendly and never appeared agitated at all during their encounter," the report said. The man told police he was never charged for the fare but he was charged a cancellation fee by Uber because it appeared he never accepted the fare.

Another man told police he sought an Uber driver to take him from a brewery to his hotel because he "did not feel it was safe to be walking while there was an active shooter." The man said one of his fellow passengers asked Dalton if he was the shooter and he said no, adding, "I'm just tired."

The man told police he joked with Dalton "because he never would have imagined that an Uber driver would actually be the suspect in the shootings."

The ride was just after midnight and shortly before Dalton was apprehended.

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Associated Press writers Jeff Karoub, Corey Williams and Ed White contributed to this report. (TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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