An Uber driver allegedly kidnapped a female passenger in Boston, but an attorney reportedly insists the incident was the result of a language barrier gone awry.
Kamal Essalak, a 47-year-old Massachusetts man originally from Morocco, pleaded not guilty Monday to a kidnapping charge following his Saturday arrest on an outstanding warrant in Boston Municipal Court for the Thursday incident, the Boston Globe reported.
Essalak, of Acton, was arrested in the Boston suburb Saturday after a woman told detectives he picked her up in the city’s Brighton section and started “behaving strangely,” prompting her to ask that he pull over and let her out, police said.
Essalak stopped, but the woman couldn’t get out because the car’s child safety locks were engaged on both rear doors, making it impossible for her to escape, cops said.
“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,” Boston police said in a statement.
The quick-thinking female rider managed to slide around Essalak and made her way into the driver’s seat, where she unlocked the door and ran to safety, police said.
But Essalak’s defense attorney insisted in court Monday that a language barrier between him and the woman caused the confrontation that led to his arrest, the Globe reported.
A translator also helped Essalak understand Monday’s court appearance, according to the report.
A judge ordered Essalak be released on his own recognizance and to stay away from the woman. He was also mandated to not work for any ride-share companies or leave Massachusetts without permission, the newspaper reported.
The ride-sharing service was not identified by police, but a spokesperson for Uber told the Globe that Essalak was driving for the company at the time.
“What’s been reported is horrifying and something no one should have to go through,” the spokesperson told the newspaper prior to Essalak’s court appearance. “As soon as we became aware, we immediately removed this driver’s access to Uber.”
Essalak’s attorney, Thomas Chirokas, said Monday he had been an Uber driver for more than four years, racking up 7,800 pickups in the process and had a nearly perfect rating from passengers, WCVB reported.
“It’s actually a shocking accusation,” Chirokas told a judge. “He is a family man, and this is completely out of the blue for the family.”
Boston police, meanwhile, had earlier reminded ride-share users to take a moment upon getting into vehicles to check if child safety locks are engaged.
“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,” police said. “They are usually quite small and made of dark colored or black plastic making them difficult to see under darkened conditions.”
