PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — An Uber driver has been arrested, accused of holding two passengers against their will over the weekend. According to the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, the alleged incident happened around 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Richard Lomotey, a 36-year-old man from Monaca, is an assistant professor at Penn State’s Beaver Campus. He is also a part-time instructor at the Pitt School of Computing and Information, according to the University of Pittsburgh. He is now being held in jail. Lomotey is facing three charges each of kidnapping, false imprisonment and harassment. Lomotey allegedly commented on the looks of two women he picked up in his vehicle and ignored the GPS directions. He pulled over near the intersection of South Homewood Avenue and Penn Avenue around 1:30 a.m., parked the vehicle and said, “You’re not going anywhere,” according to authorities. Lomotey tried to lock the doors, but one of the victims was able to escape out of the back seat, authorities say. The women ran from the car shouting for help. Lomotey was identified by authorities by his Uber app ID and picture. He is believed to live in Beaver County. Police unsuccessfully searched for the car in the area. Uber has responded to the incident saying, “What’s been described is unacceptable. The driver’s access to the app has been removed and we stand ready to cooperate with law enforcement to support their investigation.” #UPDATE: Uber driver and @PennStateBeaver assistant professor Richard Lomotey is behind bars facing kidnapping charges. The school just revoked his access to campus. @KDKA pic.twitter.com/Jy1asvinr5 — MEGHAN SCHILLER (@MeghanKDKA) May 13, 2019 A warrant was issued for his arrest, and Penn State Beaver has revoked his access to campus. In a statement, the Director of Campus Relations Kristen Doerschner said: “These allegations are deeply troubling and we have revoked his access to campus as we look into this matter. This is obviously a criminal matter and we cannot comment further.”<doc-sep>Uber driver Richard Lomotey was arrested over the weekend and charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment, and harassment in Pennsylvania, according to police. Pittsburgh police say the suspect told his two female passengers, "you're not going anywhere," and tried to lock them inside his car, but the women escaped. Lomotey, an assistant professor at Penn State University, has been put on leave and won't be in the classroom, according to a university spokesperson. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. An Uber driver in Pennsylvania has been arrested in connection with a report that he allegedly tried to lock two female passengers inside his vehicle early Saturday morning. Police have arrested 36-year-old Richard Lomotey, an assistant professor at Penn State University. Lomotey has been charged with two counts each of kidnapping, false imprisonment, and harassment, according to court documents. Two women told police that their Uber driver picked them up early Saturday morning but did not follow the app's GPS route to their destination. The driver also commented on their looks, according to the Pittsburgh police report. The driver pulled over and told the female passengers, "you're not going anywhere," the women told police. The Uber driver allegedly tried to lock the backseat doors of his vehicle, but one of the women was able to open the door and jump out. The two women then ran from the car and shouted for help, police say. Police were able to identify Lomotey and the car he drove using the Uber app. In a statement, Uber told Business Insider that Lomotey's access to the Uber app, and his ability to drive for the ride-hailing company, has been revoked. "What's been described is unacceptable," an Uber spokesperson said. "The driver's access to the app has been removed and we stand ready to cooperate with law enforcement to support their investigation." Lomotey has not responded to a request for comment from Business Insider. Court documents show Lomotey has posted bail following his arraignment over the weekend. An online search of Lomotey shows that he's an assistant professor of information science and technology at Penn State University's Beaver campus. Penn State spokesperson Wyatt Dubois told Business Insider that Lomotey has since been put on leave. "These allegations are deeply troubling and while we gather more information, he has been put on leave and will not be in the classroom," Penn State said in a statement. "This is a criminal matter and we cannot comment further." Lomotey is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on May 23, according to court documents.<doc-sep>An Uber driver in Pittsburgh has been charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment after he tried to lock two female passengers in his car and told them, “You’re not going anywhere,” the police said. The women told the police that around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, the driver picked them up, remarked on their looks, parked the car at an intersection and made the threatening comment, according to Chris Togneri, a spokesman for the Pittsburgh Police Department. When the driver tried to lock the doors, the women jumped out of the back seat and ran away from the car shouting for help, Mr. Togneri said. The authorities found the Uber driver, Richard Lomotey, 36, through his Uber app identification and photo. Mr. Lomotey, who is also an assistant professor of information sciences and technology at Penn State Beaver, a commonwealth campus of the state university in Monaca, Pa., was arrested and charged with two counts of kidnapping, two counts of harassment and two counts of false imprisonment. The arrest was a new blow to Uber, which has struggled with allegations of sexual misconduct by drivers and is trying to recover from a disappointing initial public offering last week.<doc-sep>
(CNN) — An Uber driver in Pittsburgh has been arrested on charges of kidnapping after he was accused of trying to lock two women in his car. Pittsburgh police spokesman Chris Togneri identified the driver to CNN as Richard Lomotey, who faces two counts each of kidnapping, false imprisonment and harassment. Lomotey has also been identified as an assistant professor at the Pennsylvania State University’s Beaver campus, according to a school spokeswoman. According to Pittsburgh Police, two women said they took an Uber with a male driver early Saturday. The driver commented on their looks and “did not follow the GPS directions to the requested address.” Penn State Beaver Richard Lomotey, an Uber driver and assistant professor at Penn State Beaver, has been charged with kidnapping and two other charges in Pittsburgh. Eventually, the women told police, the driver pulled over, put the car in park and said, “You’re not going anywhere.” He attempted to lock the doors, the women said, but one of them was able to open a door and escaped from the back seat, followed by the second woman, according to police. Police were able to identify Lomotey via the Uber app, Togneri said, and he was soon arrested. Court dockets show a preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for May 23. “What’s been described is unacceptable,” an Uber spokesperson said in a statement. “The driver’s access to the app has been removed and we stand ready to cooperate with law enforcement to support their investigation.” Kristen Doerschner, the director of campus relations at Penn State Beaver, told CNN the allegations against Lomotey, an assistant professor of Information Science and Technology, “are deeply troubling and we have revoked his access to campus as we look into this matter.” “This is obviously a criminal matter and we cannot comment further,” she added. Lomotey did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday. CNN was unable to determine whether he was represented by an attorney.