After the driver picked her up, he asked her what her plans were for the day. The woman told him, “We’re going to pick up my kids from daycare.” I have two disabled children waiting for me there.

During the ride she fell asleep, but when she woke up she was close to 35th Avenue and Bell Roadkilometers from its place of storage.

“So I said, ‘Hey sir, you missed my stop. I dozed off. It’s a good thing I woke up,’ and he was just like, ‘Allah, Allah, am I okay?’

After he didn’t stop and let her out, she quickly called 911. The woman told the dispatcher about the situation with Levon.

“I was afraid for my life. I told the dispatcher 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, dead. So I took out my box cutter and told him, “I’m not going to go out like that.” I’m going to fight. Because this can’t be happening to me right now. If I don’t have my boys, they won’t have anyone,” she said.

Levon finally let him out in a dirt field in the West Valley. He told police he thought the victim was “the voice in his head” and admitted to being diagnosed with schizoaffective and bipolar disorder.

Since all of this happened, the victim said she has not returned to work.

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

Levon is out of prison and is due back in court later this month.

A Lyft spokesperson shared the following statement:

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

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