Driver charged with kidnapping
Cops: Woman had to flee over front seat to escape
A ride-hailing service driver has been arrested after he allegedly trapped a woman inside his vehicle in Brighton Thursday night, according to the Boston Police Department.
Kamal Essalak, 47, of Acton, was arrested by Acton Police on Saturday. He was wanted on a warrant out of Boston Municipal Court on a charge of kidnapping from Thursday night.
During that Thursday incident, a woman said she had gotten into Essalak’s ridehailing service vehicle at 8:32 p.m. on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston.
When she got in, she noted that the driver was “behaving strangely” and she requested to be let out, she told police.
But when Essalak stopped the vehicle, the woman was unable to open the door. The child safety locks had been enabled, trapping her inside the vehicle.
“As the victim began to scream and bang on the glass in an attempt to draw attention to the unfolding situation, the suspect began to climb into the rear passenger area of the vehicle, laughing periodically,” police said in a statement. “The victim was able to quickly slide around the suspect, into the driver’s seat at which time she was able to unlock the door and exit the vehicle, making her way to safety.”
Boston Police officers on Saturday responded to Acton after the arrest and took custody of Essalak, who was taken back to the station for booking.
He is expected to be arraigned in Brighton District Court.
In recent years, there has been a series of alleged sexual assaults committed by drivers for ride-hailing services in Boston.
In 2016, a driver using a false name was accused of sexually assaulting a female passenger. In 2018, an Uber driver was arrested after he allegedly raped a passenger who had been out celebrating her birthday.
Then in 2019, a ride-hailing service driver allegedly raped a woman in his vehicle on the Esplanade — along Storrow Drive near the Hatch Memorial Shell. Also that year, a man posing as a driver for a ride-hailing service kidnapped and raped an intoxicated woman, police said.
Thousands of sexual assaults have been reported in connection with ridehailing services in recent years.
“The Boston Police Department would like to advise anyone utilizing these common ridesharing services to take an extra moment upon entering the vehicle they have requested to see if the child safety door locks have been enabled,” police said. “On most modern cars and SUVs, these safety locks are located on the inside panel of the rear doors, below wherever the door latch mechanism is located. They are usually quite small and made of dark colored or black plastic making them difficult to see under darkened conditions.”