COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State University is asking for anyone with information about a rideshare scare that happened this weekend on campus to call Columbus police.
They say a woman, who was not a student or employee of the university, was walking on Chittenden Avenue at 3 a.m. Sunday while waiting for a vehicle from a rideshare app.
She got into a vehicle, and that’s when the situation took a turn for the worse.
According to that neighborhood safety notice, the woman was able to fight off a man inside the car he was driving. She thought it was the car she ordered to pick her up.
This isn’t the first time something like this has happened in this area.
In January 2017, police investigated reports of a fake rideshare driver – who they say held one young woman captive and assaulted other women who were passengers.
Seymour Josephson’s daughter, Samantha, was killed after getting in the vehicle she thought was the one she requested on a rideshare app. He lives in New Jersey and she was a student in South Carolina at the time.
“She got into the car, the child safety locks were engaged, so there was no way for her to get out,” he said.
That’s why he started the foundation #WhatsMyName – the question everyone should ask before they get in to confirm it’s the right driver. He says it could save a life.
When it comes to self-defense a device like pepper spray could help you if you’re outside but in a tightly enclosed space pepper spray will not be your best bet, but you have other options.
“Distance is going to be your friend,” said Deputy Sheriff Laura Stahr who is a RAD instructor at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.
“RAD is Rape Aggression Defense Systems, it is a women’s only self-defense course,” she said.
She says you should always sit in the back seat – that way you have room to kick an attacker – and aim for their face.
“As women, our strength is in our hips and our lower body so use that to your advantage with these nice forceful kicks. If they have the doors locked, they’re going to want you out of there by then.”
Ultimately, she says, you should never travel alone.
Important advice to keep in mind as life returns to normal and you may return to using rideshares.