For those looking for a safe ride, Uber is the typical solution these days. Drivers from all different backgrounds safely transfer their passengers from one destination to another in a courteous and somewhat cheap manner. Some drivers keep snacks, waters, tissues, hand sanitizer, etc. in their backseats for their passengers. Some even save lives.
Keith Avila is an Uber driver in the Sacramento, C.A. area. Last Monday, Avila picked up two women and a girl that appeared to be around 12 years old. She wore a very noticeably short skirt that caught the driver's attention, but Avila became super concerned when one of the women told him to drop them at the Holiday Inn in Elk Grove and to turn the music up.
Avila heard the women say to the girl, “They were describing what they were going to do when they get there: ‘Check for guns. Get the money before you start touching up on the guy,'” As soon as Avila dropped the women off, he called the police and reported a case of prostitution. Police arrived and rescued the girl as Avila streamed a live Facebook video describing what he had just encountered.
Police arrested Destiny Pettway, 25, and Maria Westley, 31 -- the two women he had picked up -- for pimping. Disney Vang, the man the girl was supposed to meet, was arrested for unlawful sexual activity with a minor. The girl -- who turned out to be 16, not 12 -- was reunited with her family. Avila responded, “What gave me chills is, the next day [police] said she was reunited with her family.”
While drivers are paid to give us safe and affordable rides, they also go out of their way to protect us from today's dangers. Thank you, Mr. Avila!