Uber ride gone wrong ‘felt like we were being kidnapped,’ California couple says

A San Francisco couple were returning from a trip earlier this month. Then came the worst Uber ride of their lives, they say.

Brian Resler and his wife parked their car at Oakland International Airport when departing from there to Disneyland, but had a return flight to the San Francisco International Airport. Once they landed in San Francisco, an Alaska Airlines agent ordered an Uber for them to the Oakland airport on Dec. 8 so they could pick up their car, according to Fox 2/KTVU.

But the couple tried to explain to their Uber driver that the Alaska Airlines agent had mistakenly just put down “Oakland” instead of the exact address of the Oakland airport, they told Fox2.

Resler said that the driver thought they were trying to “trick” and steal from him and refused to let them out of the car. He and his wife thought they “were being kidnapped,” according to ABC7 News.

Resler told the driver that since he didn’t order the Uber ride, he couldn’t switch the destination, according to Fox2.Resler also says the driver “only became angrier” when he offered him $20 to let them out of the car. Eventually, Resler says he called 911 from the backseat.

In a statement to ABC7 News, Uber said “what’s been described is disturbing, and we have removed the driver’s access to the app. We stand ready to support law enforcement with their investigation.”

The Uber driver eventually pulled the car over near 14th Street and Broadway, a spokesperson from the Oakland Police Department told McClatchy News. Police arrived at the scene on Dec. 9 at 1:00 a.m.

Officers then interviewed the driver and couple about not being allowed out of the car, according to Oakland police.

Uber confirmed to ABC7 News that the driver no longer works for Uber.

This story was originally published December 19, 2019 at 10:55 AM with the headline "Uber ride gone wrong ‘felt like we were being kidnapped,’ California couple says."