Uber driver allegedly locks two women in his car and tells them 'you're going nowhere'
An Uber driver has been arrested in Pittsburgh on charges of kidnapping after he was accused of locking two women in his car, according to reports. The driver has been identified as Richard Lomotey by the Pittsburgh police department.
Lomotey, an assistant professor at the Pennsylvania State University's Beaver campus who also sidelined as an Uber driver, is facing two counts each of kidnapping, false imprisonment and harassment.
Pittsburgh Police stated that the two women, who have not been identified, took an Uber with a male driver early on Saturday, May 11. The driver then commented on the women's looks and "did not follow the GPS directions to the requested address," the women claimed, according to CNN.
They reportedly told police that the driver eventually pulled over, put the car in park and said: "You're not going anywhere." He then attempted to lock the door, but one of them was able to open a door and escaped from the back seat of the vehicle and the other woman followed.
Reports state that officials were able to identify the driver as Lomotey through the Uber app and arrested him promptly, according to Pittsburgh police spokesperson Chris Togneri.
Originally from Ghana, Lomotey’s LinkedIn profile shows that he has a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Cape Coast, as well as a Master’s Degree and Ph.D. in Computer Sciences from the University of Saskatchewan. His areas of interest include mobile computing, databases and enterprise applications, according to a report.
An Uber spokesperson also released a statement into the case, saying: "What's been described is unacceptable. The driver's access to the app has been removed and we stand ready to cooperate with law enforcement to support their investigation."
The director of campus relations at Penn State Beaver, Kristen Doerschner, said that the allegations against Lomotey "are deeply troubling and we have revoked his access to campus as we look into this matter. This is obviously a criminal matter and we cannot comment further." Lomotey is an assistant professor of Information Science and Technology with the school.
According to court dockets, a preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for May 23. It was not immediately clear whether the accused was represented by an attorney in the case.