WEST JORDAN, Utah — A ride-share driver is facing charges after he allegedly attempted to kidnap a 15-year-old girl, leaving her to jump out of the vehicle as it was moving to escape.
Victor Manuel Montilla, 44, was taken into custody following the February 7 incident and is being held without bail.
According to court documents, police said the teen's mother had arranged a rideshare for her daughter to take her to an appointment in Glendale.
The teen said Montilla stopped near her apartment to pick her up, but claimed to have "connection problems" with the app. The girl called her mother and told her about the stop, and estimated they were there for about five minutes.
Once Montilla claimed to have fixed the app issues, the teen said he turned right and headed toward South Jordan, instead of making a left turn toward Glendale. The teen's mom texted her daughter to say the trip had been canceled and she should get out immediately.
Records show that Montilla picked her up at 12:11 p.m., canceled the ride at 12:14 p.m. and at approximately 12:18 p.m., the teen was seen on camera footage running.
The teen told Montilla in both English and Spanish to pull over, but he didn't respond and continued driving. When the girl opened the rear door, Montilla pulled over, but didn't stop. Despite the vehicle's movement, the teen jumped out and ran.
Montilla was arrested Tuesday and told police that the app had canceled or erased the ride from his screen. When police confronted him with the evidence that he had canceled the ride, he stated he couldn't stop because he was in a dangerous location.
Experts like Ultimate Combat Training Center's Julian Ruiz recommend keeping your hands open and ready to go in enclosed spaces like a rideshare.
“Anytime you are getting in the back of a vehicle, especially if it’s a vehicle that you were unaware about, what you want to do is check for the child lock,” said Ruiz. “95 percent of vehicles nowadays have this child lock on it, so you want to make sure that that’s turned off."
