OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office has clarified that a recent case involving an Uber driver who allegedly tried to kidnap a woman early Saturday near a gas station is not a kidnapping after further investigation. However, they are still working to identify the suspect and locate the vehicle involved.
Preliminary evidence suggests a battery occurred to the female victim while she was in the vehicle, the sheriff’s office said in a statement on Monday. Deputies are continuing to investigate whether the incident rises to the level of false imprisonment and the victim will be re-interviewed to provide additional details.
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The original report described a man who may have been posing as an Uber driver allegedly trying to kidnap a woman early Saturday near a gas station in Osceola County. A clerk at the Rebel gas station near Cross Prairie Parkway and Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway called 911 around 4 a.m. to report a possible kidnapping.
The victim told deputies a silver SUV stopped in front of her as she was walking. After she got into the vehicle, the man made inappropriate sexual comments and refused to let her exit. She screamed and fell out of the vehicle while the man tried to drive away. The victim was not physically harmed and escaped safely.
A nearby resident, Jose Concepcion, shared that his sister had a similar encounter recently. “She got scared and she told him to pull over,” Concepcion said. “When my sister told him, ‘let me see your phone,’ it wasn’t marked, nothing.” After seeing the released sketch, Concepcion said it could be the same man and plans to show the image to his sister.
It remains unclear whether the suspect was impersonating an Uber driver or if the victim believed he was a rideshare driver. Concepcion advised, “It’s scary. Make sure that you have got the map in your hand, make sure that it is the Uber driver who is picking you up. Just don’t jump in whoever is picking you up. Ask for the name.”
The suspect is described as a Hispanic male in his early to mid-30s with a handlebar mustache.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office at 407-348-2222 or Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS (8477). Tips can be shared anonymously.