Detectives are investigating a for-hire driver after a woman reported he tried to extort sex from her and later dragged her behind his vehicle when she tried to get him to return her lost phone.
The woman told police that soon after the driver dropped her at her home near 20th Avenue East and East Jefferson Street around 1:30 Saturday morning, she discovered she’d left her phone in the car.
When the woman called her cellphone, the driver answered. He initially refused to return the woman’s phone, but said he would bring it back to her if she would have sex with him.
The woman convinced the driver to return to her home, and met him out on the street. She spoke to the driver as he sat inside his car, and saw he was holding her phone. When she reached inside his vehicle to retrieve her phone, the driver sped away, dragging the woman a short distance down the street, leaving her with cuts on her legs, feet, arms and hands.
After the driver left, the woman was able to contact a friend, who called police for her.
Police arrived at the woman’s home and took her report and details from her receipt, which only identified the driver by his first name.
Officers later discovered that while they were interviewing the victim, a patrol car camera recorded a sedan—similar to the suspect’s —driving slowly past the woman’s home.
Robbery detectives are investigating the case and are working with the ride-share company to identify the driver.