Police say an Uber passenger in Colorado tried to kidnap his driver at gunpoint then drove her car t

• An Uber passenger named Adam Salaz has been accused of attempting to kidnap his driver at gunpoint in Grand Junction, Colorado, on January 10.
• Police said the driver escaped by jumping out of the moving car and fleeing on foot; her passenger later took the car and fled the scene.
• Salaz, 23, was later arrested by local authorities in Carlsbad, New Mexico, on charges related to the incident.
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An Uber passenger has been arrested and accused of attempting to kidnap his driver at gunpoint.

On January 10 in Grand Junction, Colorado, an unidentified female Uber driver picked up a male passenger in a nearby town around midnight, according to the Grand Junction Police Department. During the ride, police said the passenger unexpectedly pulled out a gun and demanded she drive him to the desert, as ABC News reported.

The driver escaped by jumping from the moving vehicle and causing it to crash into a fence. As the driver fled on foot, the passenger took her SUV and fled the scene, according to police. The driver had minor injuries.

The passenger, who police later identified as 23-year-old Adam Salaz, was found and arrested in Carlsbad, New Mexico — nearly 700 miles away. The car wasn't found.

Salaz is currently being held in the Eddy County Detention Center in Carlsbad, New Mexico, on charges related to the incident, according to the Grand Junction Police Department.

A spokesman from Uber told Insider that the company has a zero-tolerance policy against violence. "What the driver reported is terrifying and we are thankful she was able to escape. We immediately deactivated the rider from the platform and are working with law enforcement on their investigation," the spokesman said.

The spokesman added that the company has recently rolled out new safety features for drivers and passengers, including a "Critical Safety Line" that drivers can use to report emergency situations. The unidentified driver in the incident used this feature to report the passenger, according to Uber.

Uber and Lyft have been grappling with protecting drivers and passengers

The news comes as rideshare apps such as Lyft and Uber grapple with the safety of both passengers and drivers.

While many high-profile incidents highlight the dangers of being a rideshare passenger, this incident shows that drivers are at risk, too.

Some female drivers — who make up roughly 19% of Uber drivers and 30% of Lyft drivers — have reported having difficulty getting help from their respective rideshare company when incidents occur.

Last year, Uber released its first-ever safety report detailing sexual assaults and deaths that took place during Uber rides in 2017 and 2018. The report revealed 3,045 sexual assault reports in 2018 alone. Of those incidents, 42% of those reporting sexual assault were drivers, Vox reported.

In the report, the company also noted that 99.9% of its trips were safe, with 2.3 billion trips made in 2017 and 2018.

• Read more:
• Uber safety report reveals over 3,000 sexual assaults in US rides in 2018
• Female drivers for Uber and Lyft say sexual harassment is the norm — and getting help from the companies isn't easy
• Terrifying video shows a Lyft driver being attacked by a passenger, and it highlights a major fear of many drivers

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