TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – An Uber passenger was banged up but safe after she jumped from a moving car early Wednesday morning. Tallahassee police said the woman told them the driver held her against her will and refused repeated requests to drop her off.
Destiny Green, 30, was accused of kidnapping and false imprisonment after police and booked into the Leon County Jail.
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The passenger said that she initially asked to be taken to a house on Airport Drive, but became uncomfortable and asked to be dropped off at an apartment complex on Madison Street they were passing, but as the driver was going around the block, the car was stopped by a Florida State University police officer. Once they were moving again, Green refused to drop off the passenger, saying she was taking her to the hospital instead.
The passenger said she didn't want to go and asked to be let out ever time they stopped at a red light, but the doors were locked. According to the police report, the passenger rolled down the window and the next chance she got, jumped out and ran to a Walgreens store and called 911.
Police, responding to her calls for help, said they found her with the knees of her jeans ripped and bloody, but otherwise uninjured.
“We're just lucky that she doesn't have any life-threatening injuries or basically worse off than she is right now,” Tallahassee Police Department PIO Damon Miller said.
Because the victim knew the driver's name and license number from the Uber app, Green was brought in for questioning, Police said Green admitted giving a ride to the victim but refused to cooperate beyond that and was arrested.
“The good thing about this case is that with Uber the driver is identified and it also has the tag number and vehicle and everything,” Miller said.
Uber told WCTV-TV in Tallahassee: "What this rider reported to police is troubling. We have removed the driver from the app and stand ready to support the police investigation."
Green was scheduled to make her first appearance in court Friday morning, but the arraignment was delayed so she could undergo a mental health examination.
The kidnapping incident isn’t the first time Green has acted strangely, News4Jax has learned.
Green was involved in an incident on June 14, 2017. The police report says her fiancé alerted authorities because Green was acting like she, "never had before.”
Officers described her behavior at the time as extremely manic.
Her fiancé reported she did not use drugs and had no known mental health issues.
Green is now expected to make her first courtroom appearance Monday.
On Friday, an Uber spokesperson issued the following statement:
"What this rider reported is deeply troubling. We have removed the driver from the app and stand ready to support the police investigation."
According to the spokesperson, Uber remover the driver's access as soon as it learned of the incident and Uber has reached out to the rider to offer support.
The spokesperson also provided additional information on its guidelines for drivers and riders:
- Here are Uber’s Community Guidelines, which outline behavior expected by driver and riders during a trip.
- Uber has an emergency button built into the app that connect riders to calling 911. Uber encourages riders and drivers to use this feature in an emergency as it provides crucial information like the license plate and make and model of the car you are in right in the app so you can tell the 911 operator. You can see a video of the feature by clicking here.
- All drivers must undergo a screening process before they can use the Uber app, which includes a driving and criminal history background check reviewing local, state and national records.
- Here is some background on the screening process for drivers. Additionally, Uber conducts its background checks consistent with the requirements set forth by Florida law.