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Saturday, may 4
Tag:
Lyft
Police & Fire
Update
: NJ Lyft Driver Gets 7 Years For Fondling Pre-Teen Passenger Separate Times
A former U.S. military member from Morris County who was convicted of sexually assaulting a Passaic County pre-teen while working as a Lyft driver was sentenced to seven years in state prison. Julio Mejia, 43, of Wharton also must register as a sex offender and remain under lifetime parole supervision, under the sentence handed down by Superior Court Judge Joseph A. Portelli in Paterson. Mejia rejected a plea deal after investigators said the underage Prospect Park girl told them he had sex with her after she took a Lyft ride in August 2019 and then again after several weeks of texting. He…
Police & Fire
Lyft Passenger Wakes Up To Driver Sexually Assaulting Her In New Jersey: Affidavit
A ride in a Lyft took a terrifying turn for a woman who said she woke up to her 39-year-old New York driver sexually assaulting her in the vehicle, according to police paperwork obtained by Daily Voice. The 26-year-old woman called 9-1-1 at 5:40 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9 in Union, saying she woke up in her Lyft and found the driver, Yidou Ding, of Queens, NY, penetrating her vagina with his finger, according to the complaint from the Union County Prosecutor's Office. The woman said her dress was up to her neck and her underwear was slid over while Ding was penetrating her, the police p…
Police & Fire
Update
: Lyft Driver From Morris Found Guilty Of Fondling Underage Prospect Park Passenger
A former U.S. military member from Morris County was convicted of sexually assaulting a Passaic County pre-teen while working as a Lyft driver. Julio Mejia, 43, of Wharton rejected a plea deal after investigators said the underage Prospect Park girl told them he had sex with her after she took a Lyft ride in August 2019 and then again after several weeks of texting. He took his chances with a jury in Superior Court in Paterson and was convicted of sexual assault, criminal sexual contact, enticing and child endangerment. Superior Court Judge Joseph A. Portelli scheduled sentencing for Feb. …
Police & Fire
Paterson Jewelry Store Robbery Part Of Multi-State Crime Spree Involving DC Rapper: Feds
Three masked men who robbed a Paterson jewelry store of more than $1 million worth of merchandise at gunpoint last year were part of a violent East Coast crime ring that included a Washington, DC-based rapper, federal authorities said Wednesday. Trevor Wright – aka “Taliban Glizzy” – was among 16 defendants named in an indictment unsealed by federal authorities in the nation’s capital on Aug. 30. Mohammad Sheik had only just opened the Paradise Jewelry Store at the corner of Main Street and Delaware Avenue in Paterson several weeks earlier when the place was robbed last fall. It was one o…
Police & Fire
NJ Lyft Carjacker Gets 29 Years
A convicted carjacker who stole a Lyft driver's car after attacking hm and a passenger was sentenced to 29 years in New Jersey State Prison, authorities said. The Bloomfield man was convicted of attempting to murder the driver and assaulting a passenger in April 2019, according to Union County Prosecutor William A. Daniel. Farrakhan Howard, 31, must serve at least 85% of a 24-year term on the carjacking before the possibility of parole on that count, then must serve the additional 5-year term for assaulting the passenger, Daniel said. At approximately 1 a.m. on April 24, 2019, Cl…
Police & Fire
Unruly Lyft Passenger Assaults Officers, EMS Workers In North Jersey, Police Say
A 56-year-old woman was arrested for assaulting police officers and EMS workers in North Jersey, authorities said. It all happened around 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 27 when officers responded to First Street and Hudson Street in Hoboken on a report of a potentially drunk and unruly Lyft passenger, local police said. As she was talking with authorities, Linda Smith, of Hoboken, punched and kicked the officers and EMS workers who were also called to the scene, according to police. She was subsequently arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated assault, terroristic threats, and res…
Police & Fire
Unidentified Man Steals Nearly $700 In Razors From Morris County CVS, Flees In Rideshare: PD
Recognize him? Authorities are seeking the public’s help identifying a man they say stole hundreds of dollars’ worth of razors from a Morris County CVS store and fled in a rideshare vehicle. The suspect pictured above stole about $680 worth of razors from CVS on East Main Street in Denville just before 4:20 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20, the Morris County Sheriff’s Office said in a release. The suspect then tried to steal several more items from the Walgreens down the street before an employee confronted him and chased him out of the store, police said. The man was then seen getting into the …
Police & Fire
Former Cuomo Staffer Killed After Being Kicked Out Of Lyft
A 43-year-old man who was struck and killed by a car after being ordered out of a Lyft in Delaware over the weekend has been identified as one of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's previous staffers. An argument broke out in the back of the car that Sid Wolf was riding in, and the Lyft driver stopped the car in the middle of the southbound lane on Coast Highway in Delaware, and demanded all six passengers get out around 1:45 a.m. Sunday, July 24, authorities said. Wolf, of Gaithersburg, MD, was struck by a 2016 Toyota Corolla being driven by a 27-year-old man, who changed lanes to avoid hitting the…
News
Pennsylvania Bar Owner Slammed Over Racist Remarks In Lyft Driver's Viral Video
A Pennsylvania bar owner who was caught on a dash camera making racist remarks inside a Lyft driver's car was being slammed online. Jackie Harford was surprised to see a "white guy" behind the wheel when she entered James Bode’s car late Friday, May 13 outside her bar, Fossil’s Last Stand on Race Street in Catasauqua, LehighValleyLive reports. "What's that?" Bode asked, "Excuse me?" "You're like a normal guy, like you speak English," Harford laughs as she pats his shoulder and apologizes. This happened tonight outside of Fossils Last Stand, on Race St in Catasauqua. The ride was for…
News
Uber, Lyft Drivers Used Bogus Insurance Cards: Hudson Prosecutor
Three alleged rideshare drivers were arrested in New Jersey on insurance fraud charges, authorities said. Muhammad Khan, 21, Haq Khan, 24, and Yasir Raza, 34, have each been accused of collecting insurance money from ridesharing apps such as Uber and Lyft, for car accidents that never happened, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. The alleged drivers told the rideshare companies that the accidents occurred in a 2018 Tesla, which they claim was previously damaged in another accident, the prosecutor said. They say an insurance company determined the damage was a "total loss." It…
Police & Fire
Ex-Uber, Lyft Driver Convicted Of Stalking 14-Year-Old Girl: Prosecutor
A 43-year-old man who formerly worked as an Uber and Lyft driver has been found guilty of stalking a 14-year-old girl, authorities said. Shyam Gurung, formerly of Jersey City, was convicted by a Monmouth County Jury of fourth-degree stalking, according to Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey. This week's conviction followed a weeklong trial and two days of deliberations, Linskey said. A May 2017 investigation led by Hazlet police found that Gurung allegedly drove his black Infiniti sedan to Hazlet Middle School on multiple occasions in order t…
Police & Fire
Hackensack PD: Drug-Dealing Lyft Driver With Stolen Gun Charged With Endangering Daughter, 3
A Lyft driver from Hackensack with a 3-year-old daughter was arrested with a stolen handgun, three pounds of pot and more than $35,000 in proceeds after police learned that he’d been selling drugs near a local school, authorities said. It began after Narcotics Bureau Detective Sgt. John Dalton stopped Robinson Jeanbaptiste, 36, and found a passenger from New York City in the vehicle carrying five pounds of pot, Detective Capt. Darrin DeWitt said. Armed with a search warrant, detectives summoned a Bergen County SWAT team and raided Jeanbaptiste’s luxury apartment on Friday, DeWitt said. Th…
Police & Fire
'Sami's Law' Requires Signs On Uber, Lyft Vehicles To Protect NJ Riders
New Jersey will soon require signs, QR codes and placards on Uber, Lyft and other ride-sharing vehicles to protect passengers from getting into the wrong car. “Sami’s Law” was named after Samantha “Sami” Josephson, a 21-year-old University of South Carolina student from Robbinsville who was kidnapped and stabbed to death in Columbia, SC in March 2019 by a man she mistook for an Uber driver. New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle Commission Board on Thursday approved the measure, which takes effect once it’s published in the state register. The law will require rideshare vehicles to have a lighted or r…
Police & Fire
Englewood PD: Lyft Driver Outsmarts Drunken Repeat Offender Trying To Steal Vehicle
A quick-thinking Lyft driver hit the emergency brake after a drunken passenger with a history of assaults got behind the wheel, said police who chased down the thief. The driver told police he’d picked up Cesar Mesa, 64, of from Hackensack and took him to an address on West Linden Avenue in Englewood shortly before 4 a.m. Saturday, Englewood Deputy Police Chief Gregory Halstead said. When they got there, Halstead said, a heavily intoxicated Mesa refused to get out while arguing with him, the driver told police. The driver said he opened a door to the back seat of his Toyota Camry, shoved…
Police & Fire
Leonia Police Captain Nabs Queens Driver Trying To Catch Lyft After Pursuit, Crash
A Queens driver who crashed a brand-new Mercedes while trying to elude police Wednesday morning in Leonia was nabbed by a borough captain as he tried getting into a Lyft. It began when Officer Nolan Stendor tried pulling over the sedan after it illegally passed another vehicle on Broad Avenue shortly after 9:30 a.m. The driver, identified as Osvaldo Leader-George stopped on Westview Avenue as Stendor pulled up, Capt. Scott Tamagny said. He then quickly got back into the Mercedes and sped away, Tamagny said. The sedan hit a parked car as Leader-George turned onto Glenwood Avenue, but he k…
Police & Fire
Video
: Off-Duty
Nypd
Hero Rescues Man Trying To Jump From Bayonne Bridge
Dramatic video shows an off-duty NYPD officer saving a man trying to jump from the Bayonne Bridge. Police Officer Cory Pilzer was on the bridge walkway with his family this past Sunday when he spotted the 22-year-old man starting to climb the suicide prevention fence, the NYPD said. Pilzer bolted toward the despondent man, jumped and yanked him down by the waistband. They held onto him for uniformed Port Authority police officers, who took the man to Richmond University Medical Center on Staten Island. “Always out there. Always protecting — even off-duty!," NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea t…
Lifestyle
Jersey City Dad Launches Kid-Friendly Ride Share Service
Toward the end of the 2019 school year, Jersey City father Norbert Sygdziak got a phone call from his son’s school district about an “unnerving event” that would require new bus arrangements. The call prompted Sygdziak to think seriously about school bus safety. He ultimately left his 19-year career in the legal industry to launch and take on a CEO role at RideAlong -- a child-oriented ride-share service with Jersey City native, Fateen Reid. "Despite all the advantages we have as a society, most parents are still forced to place their children on yellow school buses with little to no info…
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