You can never be too safe, especially when you're in a situation with someone you don't know. A Florida woman learned this unfortunate lesson the hard way after her Uber driver allegedly refused to let her out of the car she was riding in.
Brooke Adkins took to Twitter after the ordeal to detail what happened and present a warning to other women. A friend of Brooke's had requested an Uber to give her a ride home. When she got in the car, driver Destiny Racquel Green seemed to function as any Uber driver would. It was during the ride that things began to get unusual, says Brooke, leaving her in an uncomfortable situation with a choice to make.
When matters became worse, Brooke says she had to do what was necessary to get herself out of harm's way, so she threw herself from the moving vehicle. Luckily, police were nearby to hear Brooke's harrowing tale of what should've been a quick cab ride home.
Brooke Adkins is a 19-year-old university student in Tallahassee, Florida. She was on her way home from a night out with friends when one of her friends called an Uber to take her home.
What happened next was truly terrifying to Brooke, so she took to Twitter to share her story as a warning to others.
Brooke was in the Uber with driver Destiny Green, and things seemed relatively normal. When Brooke asked to be dropped off at a closer location instead, things allegedly took a turn.
Brooke says that Destiny refused to drop her off and then locked the doors. Once Brooke realized the doors were locked, she held down the window button so she'd have an escape route.
According to Brooke, Destiny then said she was taking Brooke to the hospital, even though Brooke never asked to go there.
Brooke FaceTimed a friend, describing what was going on, and followed that up with a 911 call.
When the car approached a red light, Brooke jumped out of the back window of the car and ran.
Brooke waited for police in a Walgreens parking lot, knees and hands scraped and bruised from the escape.
When police visited Destiny's home for an interview, they say she blurted out that she quit driving for Uber because of the incident with Brooke. After further conversation and review of the evidence, Destiny was arrested for kidnapping to facilitate a felony and false imprisonment, according to ABC27.
Despite the fact that Brooke shared the incident to warn people, she's received backlash as well.
The different accounts of events that have been heard as the story spread caused Brooke to take to Facebook to defend herself from the criticism she received.
Many people believe that it was simply a misunderstanding and that Brooke overreacted.
Sadly, other women replied to Brooke's story with their own stories or those of people they knew who found themselves in danger as a result of riding with Uber and other similar car services.
Brooke wants people to stay safe, and she's not alone. Many have called for stricter policies surrounding hiring for ride-hailing services. It's so important to feel safe as these services become more and more prominent.
