BREMERTON, Wash. — A 44-year-old man was arrested Saturday afternoon after he kept a 50-year-old Tacoma woman in his taxi for several hours against her wishes, according to Bremerton police.
The victim’s car broke down late Friday night, and the suspect, Kenneth Marshall Haines of Gig Harbor, who was driving a fully marked taxi, stopped and offered to give the woman a ride and told her he owned a tow truck, investigators said. At her request, he dropped her off at a Port Orchard motel and told her to call him in the morning to help her to get her car.
Police said Haines picked her up in the same taxi after she summoned it at 7 a.m. on Saturday. Police said the woman told investigators that after she asked to be taken to the Jeep dealer in Bremerton, he instead picked up several fares, and when she protested, yelled, “My stuff first!” Police said Haines refused to let the woman go for several hours, at one point going to a golf course several miles away “to hit golf balls.”
Later in the day, when Haines drove the victim to the Jeep dealership, the staff noticed she appeared “terrified” and demanded the taxi driver leave without her, according to Bremerton police. The staff then called 911.
The woman told police she was scared, asked to be let out of the car several times, felt threatened by Haines’ actions and words, and did not know the area. Officers said they quickly located Haines in his vehicle, pulled the taxi over and took him into custody on charges of unlawful imprisonment. Officers said Haines told them he “was training her to be a taxi driver,” and when asked if she asked to be let out, said, “A couple of times.”
Haines held a Bremerton taxi operator’s certificate. Police said both he and his company have been notified that it has been revoked. The taxi was impounded.
Haines was jailed, but has since been released on $25,000 bail.
NOTE: Since a news release about this case was put out by the Bremerton Police Department Monday afternoon, Kitsap County prosecutors have since declined to press charges and have referred the case to a municpal court in Bremerton.
KIRO
