Full Notification

For-hire Rideshare Driver Arrested for Kidnap with Sexual Intent

Panorama City.  An early morning call to 9-1-1 from a woman who woke up in a low-rent motel with a strange man casts light on an unforeseen danger of using for-hire ridesharing services.   

Such was the case yesterday morning, June 2, when a 26-year-old local woman called police from a 7-11 market in Panorama City at 6 AM, to report she had just left a motel room where a man had been lying next to her, shirtless.  She did not know him and did not remember how she got there.

After many questions, the police officers were able to divine the woman had been bar hopping in West Los Angeles the night before.  After several drinks, she must have called UBER rideshare, with which she has an account.  The woman was able to point out the Panorama Motel, and officers were able to locate the room where the only White male tenant had checked in. 

Police found Frederick Dencer, 32, of Encino, still in the room.  “Dencer answered questions but his story didn’t make sense,” said Lt. Paul Vernon, commanding officer of Mission Detective Division.  “Once the officers watched video from the motel, they realized the victim was carried into the motel, and that didn’t jive with Dencer’s several stories.”

The woman’s phone was dead so there was no way to see if she had called UBER for a ride from the Graystone Manor nightclub, her last stop.  Dencer is a driver for UBER and had had a fare that night.  Police believe he had been hanging out at the Graystone Manor after another fare and may have been solicited directly by a nightclub worker to take the drunk victim home.  Had this been an official UBER assignment, Dencer would have received the victim’s home address with the fare, but in this case, the victim was too drunk to tell him.

“So it looks like Dencer took advantage of the situation, and drove her to a cheap motel, which he had visited before, and carried her into the room,” Vernon explained.  “He slept the night in the room, and when she awoke, he let her leave, though he asked her to stay, according to the victim.”

Based on the circumstances and the video, Dencer was booked for Kidnap for the Purpose of Sexual Assault.  His bail was set at $1 million. 

“This is Dencer’s first arrest,” Vernon added.  “It looks like he made a rash decision to take advantage of a vulnerable woman, and he’s not the first man to try that.  The irony is, the victim was trying to be responsible by calling for a ride, but she unwittingly put herself in another vulnerable situation.  Hopefully, others will learn from this, and thankfully she was not assaulted or injured.”

Anyone with information on this crime is urged to call Detective Nicole Kittle, Mission Sex Unit, at (818) 838-9975.  Anonymous tips can be called into Crimestoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477), or by texting 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone.  All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.”  Online tips may be placed at www.LAPDOnline.org, click on “webtips” and follow the prompts.

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