Lyft driver arrested after reportedly kidnapping woman: ‘I was scared for my life’

PHOENIX (KPHO/Gray News) - An Arizona woman says she is sharing her terrifying experience with others after being kidnapped by her Lyft driver.

Her driver, Justice Levon, was arrested on Wednesday. He is accused of kidnapping the woman after she dozed off in the back seat during a 45-minute ride.

“That day, it seemed normal at first, and it just turned left,” she said.

The mom of two, who wanted to stay anonymous, says she’s been taking Lyft rides for weeks to get around after her car recently broke down. She said she was coming off a 10-hour work shift when she requested a ride from a store near 48th Street and Broadway Road.

After the driver picked her up, he reportedly asked her about her plans for the day. She said she told him, “We’re going to pick up my kids from the day care. I have two disabled kids there waiting for me.”

She said at some point during the ride she fell asleep, but when she woke up, she was near 35th Avenue and Bell Road, miles away from her drop-off location.

“So, then I said, ’Hey sir, you missed my stop. I dozed off. It‘s a good thing I woke up,’ and he was just talking to himself about, ‘Allah, Allah, am I doing, OK?’”

After he didn’t stop and let her out, she said she quickly dialed 911 where she told the dispatcher about the situation.

“I was scared for my life. I told the dispatch lady I didn’t know what was going to happen. I don’t know what his intentions are,” the woman said.

It took police about 20 minutes to reach the woman.

“My phone was dying, and it died. And I was in there with him with it dead,” she said. “I just said I’m not going to go out like this. I‘m going to fight because this cannot be happening to me right now. If I don’t get my boys, they don’t have anybody.”

The driver ended up letting her out in a dirt field in the west part of town. He reportedly told police he thought the victim was “the voice in his head,” and admitted to being diagnosed with schizoaffective and bipolar disorder.

The woman said she hasn’t returned to work after what happened.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do, you know? Because I work so far,” she said. “I’m doing what I can do to keep a job, to get my kids where they need to go, and to save up for a car, but it’s hard. It’s very hard.”

Levon has since bonded out of jail and is scheduled for a court date later this month.

A Lyft spokesperson shared the following statement regarding the situation:

“Safety is fundamental to Lyft, and the incident described is deeply troubling. We have permanently removed the driver from the Lyft platform, contacted the rider to offer support, and stand ready to assist law enforcement with any investigation.”