Hearing For Uber Driver Accused Of Attempted Kidnapping Postponed Again
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A local Uber driver accused of attempting to kidnap at least three women was set to have a preliminary hearing Wednesday morning, but it was postponed once again.
Richard Lomotey was supposed to be face a judge this morning, but when only one out of the two alleged victims showed up, the hearing was pushed back for a second time.
#NEW: The judge just postponed Richard Lomotey's prelim because only 1 out of the 2 female victims showed up. It's now postponed until August @KDKA pic.twitter.com/tnAuWPNPXC
— MEGHAN SCHILLER (@MeghanKDKA) June 26, 2019
Lomotey's hearing was initially scheduled for June 3.
KDKA's Meghan Schiller was inside the City Court Building when Lomotey arrived that day to find out it got pushed back. A few more weeks of waiting, he said.
Lomotey is the former Uber driver that faces charges of kidnapping, unlawful restraint, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.
Two females accused Lomotey of not following their directions, pulling over and locking the vehicle doors. He allegedly told them, "You're not going anywhere."
But Lomotey disputes that, saying his Uber app froze. He had to restart it, and he pulled over to wait for it to kick back on. He said he was only having a nice conversation with the two young women, asking them about what they study in school since he's a professor.
At the time of his arrest, Lomotey served as an assistant professor of Information Science Technology at Penn State. The school revoked his access to campus.
After the charges in the initial case, another woman came forward, saying Lomotey made unwanted advances to her as well.
Stay with KDKA for Meghan Schiller's full report on this developing story.
