This archive report was first published on 28 August 2019.
On August 28, 2019, a teenage girl's life was put in danger when an Uber driver, with his own sinister plan, took her on a wild ride through Long Beach and Brooklyn.
According to prosecutors, the girl's family did not have a car, and public transit was not an option. When the Uber driver, Mr. Williams, arrived, he motioned for the girl to get in the front seat, which she did, and then began driving east through Long Beach.
However, at some point in Long Beach, Mr. Williams canceled the ride in the Uber app and began driving away from Merrick, westward, toward his home in Brooklyn, prosecutors said.
"When he cancels that route, the GPS turns off, and the ride is terminated," said Ms. Singas. "For us, that's sort of a consciousness of guilt. You know, he's taking her somewhere that he's not supposed to take her, and he cancels the route so we can't see where he's going."
While driving, Mr. Williams told the girl that he wanted to take her drinking, but she refused, repeatedly telling him her age. When it became clear that Mr. Williams was driving the wrong way, she requested that he take her home, but he declined.
As the girl was in the front seat, she was afraid to pull out her phone and call the police or text her parents in case Mr. Williams saw her, Ms. Singas said.
Just after they crossed into Brooklyn, the girl told Mr. Williams she needed to use the bathroom, and he pulled the car over. She ran into a McDonald's on Linden Boulevard in East New York, where she called the police.
Mr. Williams followed her, prosecutors said, but fled before officers arrived at the restaurant, which was about 10 minutes from his home.
