Rideshare driver kidnapped, driven from Georgia to Miramar by escaped inmates
.jpg "A rideshare driver was bound and kidnapped by escaped inmates in Georgia and driven to Broward County; authorities tracked the three suspects to Miramar. Left to right: 24-year-old Stevenson Charles, 31-year-old Yusuf Minor and 25-year-old Naod Yohannes.")
A Georgia rideshare driver thought she was picking up a woman and about to head on an everyday trip Monday, but when three men entered her car instead, she soon realized they were escaped inmates, authorities said.
She was bound and kidnapped as the trio drove her to Broward County, subjecting her to six to 10 hours of threatening to kill and rape her — at one point assaulting her.
Stevenson Charles, 24, Yusuf Minor, 31, and Naod Yohannes, 25, escaped DeKalb County Jail in Decatur, Georgia, sometime early Monday, according to a criminal complaint penned by FBI Special Agent Conor Goepel.
Shortly after, they ordered a rideshare to an undisclosed location in Georgia. When the female driver, who was not identified, arrived, the men wrapped a rope around her neck from behind as she struggled for her life, the complaint read. Her hands were then bound as she was dragged into the backseat, ordered to keep her head down and her eyes closed.
“[The woman] was told repeatedly not to struggle or that [she] would be killed,” the complaint read.
The men began their journey to Broward. On the way, they forced the woman to transfer money from her savings accounts to her debit cards, which they stole from her.
Once they entered Florida, exactly where is unknown, she tried to escape when the men went off and spent her money. She was recaptured, assaulted and “experienced increased threats of being shot, raped and tortured.”
Authorities were aware that the men had escaped and were possibly in a rideshare heading to Florida, the complaint said. Once they learned who the rideshare driver was, they tried to reach her phone but to no avail. The complaint did not name the rideshare company.
License plate readers in Broward and Miami-Dade alerted authorities that the men had arrived in South Florida. Meanwhile, they also received information that the men rented a short-term rental in Miramar with the woman’s credit cards.
Law enforcement patrolling South Florida trying to spot the men found Charles driving the woman’s car with Yohannes.
The pair were captured and authorities prepared to move on the Miramar rental property. There, they peeked into an open window and spotted Minor. They ordered him to come out, which he eventually did but not before the woman came out first.
“[She] was taken to a safe place and checked by emergency medical services,” the complaint read.
The three men were charged with kidnapping in addition to the crimes they are alleged to have committed in Georgia.
It’s unclear what the men were jailed for in Georgia, but they have extensive histories of being arrested and charged with violent crimes, including aggravated assault. According to Dekalb County court records, a Stevenson Charles was booked into jail on Dec. 5 on charges of murder and armed robbery.
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