Lyft Driver's Kidnapper Found Guilty for Forcing the Driver to Drive 72-mile Trip

On December 11th, 2017, 27-year-old Shane Brown, a Californian that relocated to D.C., requested a ride from a Lyft driver in D.C. The Lyft driver picked up Brown and drove him from an apartment building in Northwest D.C. on the 2400 block of Calvert Street. Brown asked the driver to take him to the Red Roof Inn in Aberdeen, Maryland, which is a 72-mile ride.

The driver drove to Aberdeen, but grew suspicious and dropped him off at the McDonalds, after which he refused to give Brown a return trip to D.C. However, Brown request a new ride from Lyft 30 minutes later, and the driver answered the request. When Brown entered the car, the driver refused to take him, and Brown took out a hand gun and pointed it at the driver's head, forcing him to drive back to D.C.

According to court documents "The Lyft driver indicated that [Browne] continued to point the handgun at him and intermittently touched his head with the gun throughout most of the rest of the ride, including after the vehicle crossed state lines and entered D.C."

It seems that the driver was not totally fazed by the gun on his head, and emailed Lyft during the ride, telling them he was in trouble. After he reached the kidnapper's destination and dropped him off, the driver contacted the police using the OnStar app. After which the police arrived at the apartment block and detained Brown.

The police arrived the day after with a court order and searched the apartment; they found 78 pounds of Marijuana and $35,000 in cash as well as a cash counting machine. However, no weapons were found during the search.

Brown was retained in custody and was tried and found guilty last Wednesday on charges of kidnapping and possession with intent to distribute marijuana. He will be sentenced on the 24th July and will face a maximum of 25 years.