Uber driver charged with felony after rider calls 911

An Uber driver accused of demanding additional money from a woman he picked up in Port Washington, then failing to let her out of his car as she pleaded for him to stop the vehicle earlier this month, has been charged with a felony in Ozaukee County Circuit Court.

Ramandeep Singh, 32, of Milwaukee faces one count of false imprisonment.

According to a criminal complaint, a 911 call was received around 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 4, and an Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher said she heard arguing and someone say, “Don’t tell me to give you money.”

Authorities determined the call was from a passenger in an Uber rideshare vehicle that got on I-43 in Port Washington and was heading north. The caller reported that the driver was demanding more money and making aggressive hand gestures toward her, the complaint states.

A sheriff’s deputy spotted the Uber vehicle on I-43 about eight miles north of Port Washington and pulled it over. Singh told the deputy that he asked his passenger to cancel the ride she booked online and pay him in cash because he was not receiving enough money from Uber for the ride, according to the complaint.

The woman told the deputy that she ordered an Uber to pick her up from work, and when she got in the vehicle Singh immediately began asking her how much Uber was charging her for the ride. She said she told Singh she didn’t want to discuss the cost of the ride, but after he began making aggressive hand gestures toward her, she said she paid $75 for the trip, the complaint states.

The woman said Singh then demanded more money from her because he was making only $25 from Uber for the ride. She said she had already paid for the trip online and would not pay him cash, according to the complaint.

Singh drove west on Grand Avenue, and when he reached the roundabout at Highway LL the woman said she told him to let her out of the car, but Singh gestured her away with his hand and told her it was OK. The woman said she asked him again to stop, and when he told her not to worry but kept driving she began crying, at one point gripping a pen in her hand in case she had to defend herself against him, the complaint states.

As Singh got on the freeway, the woman called 911 and put her phone on speaker, hoping he would stop when he heard she was calling for help. The woman asked him again to stop, then saw a sheriff’s office patrol vehicle approaching and began waving out the window to flag the deputy down, according to the complaint.

The woman, who estimated that she told Singh she was scared three times, was visibly shaken and crying when the deputy spoke to her and said she believed she was being kidnapped, the complaint states.

An officer noted he did not have a problem understanding Singh and Singh understood what he was saying, although during Singh’s initial court appearance a Punjabi interpreter was used, according to court records.

During that hearing, Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Steve Cain set bail for Singh at $1,500, which he has posted, and ordered him not to work as a rideshare or taxi driver while the case against him is pending.

False imprisonment is punishable by a maximum three years in prison and three years of extended supervision.