An Uber driver was arrested this week on kidnapping charges after a woman who used the car service after a night of drinking awoke next to him in a motel room and called the police.
NBC Los Angeles reported that Frederick Dencer, 32, of Encino, California, was taken into custody Monday morning.
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LAPD Lt. Paul Vernon explained to reporters that they believe a valet outside of a West L.A. nightclub offered Dencer a fare to take the unnamed woman home. Uber drivers are typically ordered through a smartphone app, and hailing them off the street is against Uber's terms of employment.
Company spokespersons from Uber said they had no record of the ride, suggesting it was a hailed fare, off the books. Had the Uber car been ordered through the smartphone app, the trip would have been tracked by GPS, and both Dencer and the woman's identities would have been tied to the trip.
"The facts are unknown at this stage and it's certainly unclear that this is an Uber-related incident, as the driver in question was not logged in, connected to or operating on the platform at the time," Uber representative Lane Kasselman told NBC.
"We have reached out to authorities and will work with them to help uncover the facts. It is also our policy to immediately suspend a driver’s account following any serious allegations, which we have done. Nothing is more important to Uber than the safety of our riders."
LAPD Lt. Vernon said Dencer was still in the room where he took the woman at Panorama Motel when he was arrested.
"Dencer answered questions but his story didn't make sense. So it looks like Dencer took advantage of the situation, and drove her to a cheap motel, which he had visited before, and carried her into the room," Vernon said, according to NBC. "He took advantage of where he was at, what he was doing and saw an opportunity."
LAist.com reported that Dencer's bail was set at $1 million.
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