JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Saturday evening Uber pickup turned into a scary ride for a Jacksonville female driver.
The woman, who didn't want to be identified, says the three men she picked up opened something in her car that had such a strong odor, she nearly passed out.
The driver believes the men were trying to drug her.
She says not long into the ride, she began to smell a strong odor – at the same time she started to feel strange.
"I was shaking, I was crying and as soon as I got home I went ahead and called the Clay County Sheriff's Office," the driver said.
The ride started at a restaurant at Argyle Forest and Oakleaf Village in Duval County. They made their way down Argyle Forest and the final destination was on Wells Road, in Clay County.
"My whole body went numb,” the driver explained. “There was a really strong smell in the car and it went in my nose, in through my throat, and made my whole head and body numb."
The driver said she began to panic and rolled her window down in hopes the smell would go away. All the while, she says she tried to keep a calm demeanor. That's when the passenger told her, his friend in the backseat had opened a flask full of apple flavored Crown Royal.
"I was like y'all need to close it now, the smell is very strong and it's making me really dizzy,” said the driver. “They said OK, OK we will close it and we won't open it again."
The Uber driver says she eventually got the guys to their final location in Clay County and she told News4Jax, the reason she didn't stop sooner was because she didn't want to give them any opportunity to take advantage of her. She says other drivers need to be vigilant.
“If you're female driver, deny them. Deny the ride especially if it's midnight and you've got three guys getting into your car, deny it and I really should have,” the driver said. “I should have denied that ride, I shouldn't have even tried to attempt to have all those guys in my car.”
She continued, “I have a feeling if I didn't do what I did or if I'm not doing this now, the next Uber driver that gets them is not going to be so lucky."
The driver called the Clay County Sheriff's Office when she got home and they took down all the information and wrote up an incident report but says because it happened in Duval County, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is the responding agency. She says JSO told her nothing can be done because of the lack of verification.
The driver also reached out to Uber and reported the incident. She says they told her they will look into the situation and take care of it but she wishes Uber gave drivers more information about the people they are picking up.
For right now, this Uber driver is taking a break from the driving business.