Lyft Driver Caught on Camera Refusing to Drop Passenger Off

The passenger recorded the incident on her cellphone.

ByABC News
February 26, 2016, 11:17 AM

— -- A ride home from a restaurant turned into a nightmare for one Lyft passenger in Washington, D.C.

After requesting a driver from the ride-sharing app on Wednesday, Desiree Taylor and her friend asked to be driven to their respective apartments.

Taylor and her friend live five blocks away from one another on the same street, so they requested a Lyft Line ride, which allows multiple passengers to get a ride at a discount. According to Lyft’s website, users of Lyft Line enter their destinations before requesting the service and no additional stops can be added after the ride has started.

Taylor told ABC News that the driver, who she said was identified on the app as "Brian," refused to make two stops at two different destinations. Taylor's friend exited the car a few blocks before his apartment.

"Mind you, we do this every single time there has never been a time when someone has complained," Taylor said.

Taylor, 32, and the driver began exchanging words.

"I was expressing myself and my anger at the situation, [saying] 'We're going to write a bad review,'" Taylor said, noting that she "obviously [had] some anger in my tone."

The driver then pulled over, turned off his car and got out of the vehicle, Taylor said, and she opened the door and started filming the interaction on her cellphone.

"I got ruffled because I assumed he was going to come over to my side and try and drag me out," she said.

PHOTO: A Lyft driver was filmed as his passenger alleged that he refused to bring her to her requested destination.
A Lyft driver was filmed as his passenger alleged that he refused to bring her to her requested destination.

Instead, he got back in the car and "made a really violent U-turn" going in the opposite direction of Taylor's home while the backseat passenger door was still open.

She is heard saying repeatedly in the video that he is not taking her to her destination and she does not know where he is going.

The driver is not heard speaking on the video, and eventually pulls over and lets Taylor out at a stop sign, about a 15-minute walk from her house.

Lyft said the driver has had his credentials removed.

"We are extremely troubled to learn about this incident. We have a strict zero-tolerance policy and any behavior threatening the safety of a Lyft community member is not tolerated. The driver's conduct was absolutely unacceptable, and his access to Lyft has been permanently removed," Lyft spokesperson Alexandra LaManna told ABC in a statement.

Taylor said she immediately called the police when she arrived at her home. According to Taylor, police did not respond because she was not physically harmed and the situation happened while a service was being provided to her.

Taylor told ABC News this morning that she is going to speak to lawyers about potentially filing charges of reckless endangerment and possible kidnapping since the driver would not tell her where he was taking her.

"The way he acted was totally out of context," she said. "It's not like I was belligerent or I was aggressive toward him in any way, shape or form to receive that response. I was just expressing myself."