TOLEDO, Ohio — New accusations are coming to light about the driver of a van that markets itself as an Uber and Lyft vehicle, although both companies deny the driver is permitted to use their platforms.
At least three women have come forward, claiming they were harassed when taking what they thought was a rideshare service.
A student at Ohio University said she rode in the van over Thanksgiving break.
"He started trying to take my phone and Venmo himself, and then he tried to put in different addresses," she said via FaceTime. "Like, my friend was watching him do this. Like I said, I was a little bit out of it."
A night out quickly turned into a night of fear, but luckily for the Ohio University student, she was able to remove herself from the situation.
"We got out in the middle of the Taco Bell restaurant (drive-thru) and went to the side, ran away from the car and had our friend come pick us up," she said.
A 19-year-old woman also spoke out but asked that her identity be concealed.
She said she was alone and heading home around 5 a.m. back in October. When she ordered a Lyft, the same driver showed up.
"He really just kind of asked me, 'So do you partake in prostitution?' And I was like, 'No, I do not. Never have, never will.' And then he goes, 'Well, do you have a Snapchat?'" the 19-year-old recalled. "He literally pulled the car over to the side of the road. At this point, we were already in my neighborhood. (He) hands me his phone. I knew he already knew my name. I was like, 'I just want to get home safe.'"
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"I always tell people to listen to your sixth sense because a lot of times, our subconscious picks up on things our conscious does not," Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn said.
Wasylyshyn called these experiences troubling and said no matter what, you need to stay alert.
"You can tell a lot by a person's vehicle and if a vehicle is dented up, scraped up, rusty, I think Uber and Lyft have standards on the quality of the vehicles," he said.
It turns out the man is not an Uber or Lyft driver at all. However, neither company would tell WTOL 11 if he was ever permitted to drive using their platforms.
That was startling and disturbing news for those who may have avoided a very different situation.
"Very sketchy man," the Ohio University student said. "He has bad intentions and tried to steal money from me. If we would have stayed in the car, who knows where he would have taken us?"
WTOL 11 reached out to this driver with several questions about these situations, and why he markets himself as a rideshare driver.
Over the phone, he denied these claims and proceeded to use profanity to classify this report.