'I grabbed him and I ran': Mother & baby escape alleged kidnapping by Lyft driver

INDIANAPOLIS - A Lyft ride turned into a lifesaving escape Tuesday after Metro Police say a young mother outsmarted her driver, who tried to kidnap her and her baby. That suspect is now in jail, facing multiple felony charges.




"I thought he was going to kill me and take my son," said 18-year-old Gabrielle Lydick. "I thought my life was going to end on August 5, 2025."




To use a rideshare service is to put your safety in the hands of a stranger. Lydick found herself and her 2-month-old son in a dangerous stranger's backseat after calling a Lyft to her cousin's house. What should've been a 10-minute ride took nearly an hour after she says the driver canceled her ride in the app, but kept driving, eventually to the far east side, despite her pleas to stop.

"We came to the next stoplight. I went to get out of the car, heart pounding, I grabbed him and I went to open the door - and I was on child lock," Lydick said.




Lydick describes a state of fight or flight during which she texted her cousin to track her location, and both called 911. But she was still trapped.

Lydick recalls the suspect, 56-year-old Francky Lahens, only speaking when it was about her baby. Court documents indicate Lahens repeating the phrase "oh baby, oh baby" over and over during the ride, while ignoring Lydick's concerns that he was going the wrong way.




"At that point, I didn't care about what happened to me because I knew it wasn't about me, I just needed to get my son out of the car," Lydick said.




By then, documents say Lahens rolled the window down slightly in "an apparent attempt to console" the baby, who was crying. Lydick said she took that opportunity to reach through the window from inside the car and open the door using the outside door handle. Then, she grabbed her baby and ran toward a man sitting on a nearby porch, where she waited for her cousin to pick her up.




"I went up to him, sobbing, like 'this Lyft driver just tried to kidnap me.' I think he thought I was kidding," Lydick said.




"I can't begin to imagine what was going through her head, especially accompanied by her child," said IMPD Officer Drew Brown. "It's a situation that nobody wants to be in and she acted courageously."




Documents say the suspect turned into the "Spanish Oaks" apartment complex just before Lydick escaped. According to online court records, the suspect lives in a unit there.




"When I sit in that courtroom and tell people that, and I have to see him again, it's not going to be the easiest thing in the world for me. And it scares me," Lydick said.




Lydick encourages anyone using a rideshare app to maintain contact with a friend or family member, and she hopes to see platforms like Lyft adopt requirements for added safety features like dashcams.




FOX59/CBS4 reached out to Lyft, and a spokesperson shared the following statement:

"Safety is fundamental to Lyft, and the incident described is deeply troubling. We have been in touch with the rider to offer our support, immediately banned the driver's account from the Lyft platform, and are assisting law enforcement with their investigation."

Lyft spokesperson

Lydick said that although the idea of getting back in the car with a stranger is a frightening one, rideshare services are often her only option because she has epilepsy and legally can't drive.




"I depend on that for transportation," Lydick added. "That's the scary part. Stuff like this doesn't happen frequently, but it does happen."




The Marion County Prosecutor's Office formally charged Francky Lahens on Thursday with three counts of kidnapping and three counts of criminal confinement.





via: https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/i-grabbed-him-and-i-ran-mother-baby-escape-alleged-kidnapping-by-lyft-driver/