Calif. Deputies Rescue Kidnapped Lyft Driver Thanks to Her 9-1-1 Text

A Lyft driver’s text to 911 led to her rescue when she was kidnapped by a passenger, California deputies say.

San Diego County deputies got a 911 text message from a Lyft driver shortly after 9:30 p.m. Sunday, March 9, the sheriff’s office said in a March 10 news release.

The driver said a passenger she picked up in Spring Valley was holding her against her will, deputies said.

The passenger, later identified as Shane Capezio, 22, threatened the driver, saying he had a gun, and told her to take him to a dispensary about 3 miles away, deputies said.

After arriving at the Lemon Grove dispensary, deputies found “the Lyft driver’s car in the parking lot,” the sheriff’s office said.

Inside the car, deputies said they saw Capezio and the driver in a struggle and interrupted, detaining Capezio.

The driver was not seriously hurt, according to deputies.

In an emailed statement to McClatchy News, a Lyft spokesperson called the passenger’s behavior “reprehensible,” adding that it “has no place in the Lyft community or our society.”

“Our thoughts are with the driver, and we have reached out to offer our support,” the spokesperson said. “We have also permanently banned the rider’s account from the Lyft platform and stand ready to assist law enforcement with any investigation.”

Through investigation, deputies said they found “Capezio did not have a gun.”

He was arrested on multiple counts, including “kidnapping, robbery, false imprisonment, dissuading a victim and preventing a victim from calling 9-1-1,” deputies said.

McClatchy News reached out to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office and is awaiting a response on formal charges.

Capezio is scheduled to appear in court March 12, jail records show.

Spring Valley is about a 10-mile drive northeast from San Diego.

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