Uber driver faces third count of kidnapping
A Pittsburgh Uber driver who was charged with holding two women in his car against their will on May 11 is now charged with kidnapping another woman earlier on the same night, according to court records.
Richard Lomotey, 36, of Monaca, who teaches at Penn State Beaver and the University of Pittsburgh, was charged Monday with kidnapping the woman — apparently just before he picked up the other two, according to a criminal complaint.
The woman did not immediately report the incident to police, but did so on Thursday after recognizing Mr. Lomotey in media reports.
She told officers she had been drinking and smoking marijuana at a club on Kelly Street in
Homewood before she walked outside and saw a vehicle with an Uber decal on the windshield. She said she got into the car, gave the driver $10 cash — she didn’t use the Uber app — and told him her home address in Highland Park.
She said Mr. Lomotey began to ask her about her relationship status during the drive, then grabbed her wrist. She said he locked the doors, and she unlocked them several times.
She said they began to tussle because she wanted to get out of the vehicle, according to the complaint. Mr. Lomotey ripped her shirt and bra, she said.
“She was so afraid she opened the door and jumped from the moving vehicle at an unknown location in Homewood,” the complaint states.
Mr. Lomotey briefly slowed down and then sped away, according to the complaint.
Moments later, around 1:30 a.m., Mr. Lomotey picked up two other women on Frankstown Avenue who he is also accused of kidnapping, according to the complaint.
One of those women said she saw another woman running down the road, limping and with torn clothing, shortly after she got into the Uber. She said she told Mr. Lomotey to stop and help the woman, but he refused.
He then went on to lock the doors of the car and tell the women that they “weren’t going anywhere,” according to a complaint. Those women also escaped by jumping out of the vehicle, the complaint said.
Police believe the woman seen running is the same woman that Mr. Lomotey had just attacked, according to court records. He was charged with kidnapping, assault, unlawful restraint and reckless endangerment, in addition to previous charges filed in connection with the kidnapping of the two women.
Mr. Lomotey is an assistant professor of information sciences and technology at Penn State Beaver, as well as a part-time instructor at Pitt’s School of Computing and Information, according to the universities’ websites. He could not be reached for comment Monday.
Uber has called his alleged behavior “unacceptable” and said it is cooperating with police.