Kirkland Woman Also Attacked By Fake Rideshare Driver: Report

KIRKLAND, WA — A Kirkland woman who was sexually assaulted in March by a fake rideshare driver is telling her story to remind other women to be careful when they get into an Uber or Lyft.

Kirsten Page ordered an Uber to take her home from a Kirkland bar on St. Patrick's Day weekend. During the ride, the man got off at the wrong exit and pulled his car into a dark parking lot, she told KOMO News. She tried to get out of the car, but the child locks were engaged. She only escaped when the man paused his attack.

She told KOMO that women must verify that the person picking them up is their real rideshare driver. University of South Carolina student Samantha Josephson, 21, was killed by a man she mistook for her rideshare driver last week. Josephson's classmates have started a campaign to raise awareness about verifying rideshare drivers.

Page's story also comes in the same week the King County Sheriff's Office reported that a woman was raped by a fake rideshare driver after leaving a bar in Ballard last December. Her attacker, a 34-year-old Tukwila man, was arrested on Wednesday.