Couple in KC get scare from driver claiming to be from the Uber ride service

A man who falsely claimed to be a driver for the Uber ride service gave a couple a wild and frightening ride early Saturday morning in Kansas City.

The incident occurred about 3:50 a.m. Saturday in Westport. A 23-year-old St. Louis woman and her boyfriend said they were attempting to flag down a taxi when a man driving a black Chevrolet Traverse pulled up and told them he could give them a ride.

After the man told them he drove for Uber, they accepted the ride, the couple later told police.

When they arrived at their destination near the Country Club Plaza, the boyfriend got out. As he walked around the SUV to let out his girlfriend, the driver sped off with her in the vehicle.

She apparently had fallen asleep. When she awoke, the vehicle was moving at a high rate of speed. At some point, the driver stopped and she got out. The driver made a comment about her being attractive and he touched her bottom before she walked away, she told police.

About 40 minutes after the boyfriend reported the incident to police, she walked back to the location where he had been dropped off.

People who use Uber contact the service through an app on a phone or other device. Drivers are prohibited by Uber policy and Kansas City ordinance from picking up passengers in the street like what happened in the incident Saturday.

Uber’s system records details of every trip — the driver, the passenger, the pick-up and drop-off points and the route taken, according to the company’s website.

When a customer contacts Uber, he can see on the app the name and photograph of the driver and the type of vehicle being driven.

Kansas City police are investigating the Saturday incident.

This story was originally published June 22, 2015 at 1:52 PM with the headline "Couple in KC get scare from driver claiming to be from the Uber ride service."