Driver sues Lyft after she says she was kidnapped and assaulted by alleged suspect with ties to Houston-area robbery ring

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) – A wife and mother of four who works a second job to make ends meet says she was sexually harassed and threatened at gunpoint while working as a Lyft driver and is suing the company for failing to protect her.

Authorities say the suspect is linked to a gang of robbers that targeted more than a dozen rideshare drivers in the Houston area.

Blizzard Greenberg attorneys are representing the victim, identified as JW, in the lawsuit against Lyft and the alleged attacker. ABC13 kept the victim anonymous because they feared for his safety.

“What was going through my mind at the time was, ‘I’m going to die soon, I’m going to die soon, that’s it,'” JW said.

In June 2023, she was working part-time as a Lyft driver when she accepted a ride that she initially wanted to decline.

“There was a message saying that if I didn’t go on the trip, I could be penalized,” she said. “I felt pressured, but I went anyway.”

The ride from Missouri City to Martin Luther King Blvd near the South Loop was only $3.94.

According to the lawsuit, the passenger she was picking up was 19-year-old Kenneth Kelley. The lawsuit states that he was still in high school at the time and lived with his mother.

As they approached the drop-off point, according to the complaint, Kelley pulled out a gun, put it to her head and ordered her to keep driving.

According to the lawsuit, Kelley began describing the sexual acts he planned to perform on her, which included holding a gun to the back of her head during the attack.

“He sexually groped me and said a lot of nasty things,” JW said. “I immediately prayed and pleaded for my life.”

According to the lawsuit, Kelley and five other young men are linked to a total of 19 robberies of Uber and Lyft drivers, all of which follow a similar pattern: holding drivers at gunpoint and forcing them to withdraw money after driving them around. The lawsuit says Kelly forced another victim to perform oral sex at gunpoint.

A federal court grand jury in Houston recently indicted Kelley and the five others on a total of 24 counts, including obstruction of public commerce by robbery and use and carrying a firearm during and in connection with a crime of violence.

JW believes Lyft did not have adequate measures in place to protect her as a driver.

According to the lawsuit, Kelley’s first victim was kidnapped in April 2023 and the driver reported the crimes to the company, but the company did not notify police in time, allowing Kelley to continue using the Lyft app.

The lawsuit also says Kelley used a false name rather than her true identity, and Lyft did not provide her with a passport photo of the driver. The mother says this decision has completely destroyed her life.

“I almost lost my life because they paid $3.95 to someone who was put in my car under a false name and a false account,” she said.

Kelley was also charged with ten counts, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated kidnapping and sexual assault. He was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals.

ABC13 has asked Lyft for comment on the lawsuit and allegations.

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