Cops: Texas Lyft Driver Was Forced to Drive to Florida

A Lyft driver in Texas is safe after police say a customer forced him at gunpoint to drive more than 1,300 miles to Florida, reports WFAA. The ordeal took place Friday night when a suspect identified as 23-year-old Miguel Hernandez pulled out a gun instead of exiting the vehicle and told the driver to head to Florida without speeding, per a Department of Justice release. At one point the following morning, police say he ordered the driver to phone his children and say he was on a long work trip and wouldn't be home for a while, per NBC News.

When they arrived in Miami Beach, the driver told police that his kidnapper spoke of plans to kidnap another person and score a big payday. The driver escaped when they went to a Dollar General store to get supplies by hiding in the bathroom, say authorities. It was not clear whether he alerted police himself or told store clerks, but police arrested the suspect three hours later in Hollywood, Florida. Hernandez is being held on charges of kidnapping, carjacking, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime. (More kidnapping stories.)