Lyft Driver Arrested in Attempted Kidnapping of Jogger in University City

SAN DIEGO, CA — Police have arrested a 21-year-old man in connection with an alleged attempted kidnapping of a woman as she was jogging Wednesday afternoon in the University City area.

The incident was reported at 12:45 p.m. on Nobel Drive at Regents Road, when a man — whom police later determined has a Lyft sticker on his car, signifying that the person who owns the car is a Lyft driver — reportedly used an electric stun gun in an attempt to pull the woman into his parked car.

The jogger, who felt a burning sensation, responded by screaming, kicking the assailant and pushing him away, said San Diego police Officer Luis Roman. The victim ran out into the nearby traffic lanes to escape, Roman said, and another woman who was driving through the area at the time gave the woman a ride home.

San Diego police Lt. Scott Wahl said officers and detectives with the Northern Division immediately started investigating the incident. The person police believe is their suspect, Rahimi Baba Sheikhali Shayan, also known as Shayan Rahimi, was arrested at about 11:40 a.m. Thursday on suspicion of attempted kidnapping, Wahl said.

Capt. Mark Hanten of the San Diego Police Northern Division told reporters during a news conference Thursday afternoon that the victim worked with police investigators this morning to locate the suspect's vehicle and then positively identify him.

The victim described the vehicle as a black four-door sedan that had a Lyft sticker on the front windshield, Hanten said.

"With the help of the detective this morning going through the area, they were actually able to identify the vehicle," Hanten said.

He called the victim, a 23-year-old woman, "brave and courageous" because she fought back. She did suffer burns on her chest area from the stun gun, he said.

"She is obviously very shaken up; she credits her family in terms of providing her lots of self-defense classes," Hanten said.

So far, police have not developed a connection between the suspect and the victim, who lives in the area.

Police would like to locate the good Samaritan who gave the victim a ride to a safe place where she could then call police. Also, anyone who has further information about the suspect, the incident or similar incidents was asked to call police at 858-552-1700.

— City News Service contributed to this report.

(Patch file photo/Maggie Avants)