A taxi cab driver tried to kidnap a 16-year-old Live Oak High
School student as she got out of school yesterday, police said.
Morgan Hill
A taxi cab driver tried to kidnap a 16-year-old Live Oak High School student as she got out of school yesterday, police said.
The female juvenile victim reported the incident at the Morgan Hill Police Department after the kidnapping attempt. She told officers she was waiting for a bus across the street from the campus on East Main Avenue when she left school about 11 a.m., and a man driving an Alpha Cab vehicle stopped and offered her a free ride.
She entered the vehicle and on the way to her destination the driver, later identified as Tarandeep Singh, 21 of Hayward, stopped on the side of the road and began asking her personal questions, according to Sgt. Jerry Neumayer.
The victim became frightened and asked Singh to drop her off at Staples on Cochrane Road in Morgan Hill. When they stopped, he attempted to grab the juvenile as she was leaving the vehicle. She ran inside Staples and later went to the police station to report the incident.
About 3:45 p.m., during their investigation the Morgan Hill Police Special Operations lured Singh back to the area, Neumayer said. He was contacted by police at Staples and arrested for attempted kidnapping and other charges.
“This incident is the first report that MHPD has received regarding a driver of a taxi company committing such a crime,” Neumayer said. “The police department encourages anyone that may have been a victim of a similar incident to contact (us).”
Anyone with information about this crime may contact MHPD at (408) 779-2101 or the anonymous tip line at (408) 947-STOP.
