SAN ANTONIO — A Lyft driver is opening up about what she describes as a ride from hell. We first reported on this case earlier this month.
A man was arrested for allegedly exposing himself to his driver. The driver wants to remain anonymous but felt it was important to share her story. She said many female drivers have experienced similar incidents.
The incident happened on Feb. 11.
“It was Super Bowl Sunday, I was finishing up for the night,” she said.
She said she decided she would pick up one more ride from a bar. The passenger would be 35-year-old Amapreet Singh Sidhu, according to SAPD.
“He was already outside with two security guards, stumbling, tripping over his words,” she said.
She said the bar’s security insisted he was not dangerous. However, she said it would take only a few minutes into the ride before the driver said she felt unsafe.
She said the suspect started rapping about sexually assaulting two other women.
“At that point, we made eye contact in the rearview mirror and at that point, he looked right at me and said 'you’re going to be my next victim'” she said.
She said she kept driving. She wanted to hit a panic button on Lyft’s app that alerts ADT but froze in the moment.
“I beat myself up mentally for that,” she said.
The suspect changed his drop off location after insisting he still wanted to party. The ride was meant to be about 10 minutes. At this point, she said it had been 30 minutes.
She said he touched her check with his finger and demanded sexual acts.
“He basically said 'you’re going to do what I tell you,'” she said. “Being a survivor of sexual assault, I knew what definitely was going to happen if I didn’t get him out of my car in that moment.”
She then pulled into a gas station and told him to get out.
“He punched the door behind me,” she said.
He then walked to the front of her vehicle, pulled down his pants, and masturbated. She said she finally built-up courage and grabbed her phone to record him walking off.
She discovered he had urinated in her back seat.
The woman said she called Lyft to report the incident right away. Days later, she decided to file a police report.
“I haven’t slept well at all since,” she said.
Investigators with SAPD were able to arrest Singh Sidhu in early April. He has since been out on bond.
“Knowing that I could go into any HEB, any Walmart and he’s there, is very nerve wracking,” she said.
She said that night, he stole a sense of safety from her while she was doing a job she loves. She said because of her health conditions, she is still driving for the ride-share.
She urges all drivers to remain vigilant.