Early this morning, a 27-year-old woman was assaulted and robbed at around 1:23am after entering a vehicle that she may have mistaken for a ride ordered via a ride-hailing app. 

According to SFPD's Officer Rueca, the victim had called a ride and was waiting on the 500 block of Divisadero when a car containing three female suspects, also in their 20s, pulled up to the curb.

Words were exchanged, and the suspect entered the vehicle. It's not known whether the suspects were impersonating a ride-hailing service, or if the suspect thought she was entering the car she had requested. 

However, the victim was soon pushed from the vehicle and reportedly "stomped" by two of the suspects near Divisadero and Waller.

She suffered no injuries and did not request medical assistance, but did report the loss of her phone, purse, and credit cards. No arrests have been made.

Due to the fact that the suspect willfully entered the car, Rueca told us that the case is being investigated as a robbery with force, rather than a kidnapping.

The incident comes on the heels of two separate crimes associated with ride-hailing services last month. 

On December 12th, an intoxicated 24-year-old woman was picked up at an unknown location and driven to a secluded area where the driver made unwanted advances toward her. She resisted, and the driver then dropped the victim off at a hotel on Lombard, between Baker and Lyon. 

Later that week, a 71-year-old woman was picked up in the Outer Richmond as the last passenger in a "ride sharing Pool." The driver reportedly stopped a few blocks from the victim's destination and threatened to drive further if she didn't give him more money. When the victim refused, the suspect reportedly began driving "erratically" before eventually dropping her off a few blocks from her destination. 

Officer Rueca pointed out that although he is in no way against the service ride-hailing companies provide to citizens, he feels that people need to keep their wits about them when entering unfamiliar vehicles. 

"Incidents like these are occurring around ride-shares, and people should be more aware when picking the cars they choose to get into," he told us. "Things like these are happening because there's more contact with individuals, not necessarily because there are more ride-shares."

"People should exercise discretion and ensure that the car picking them up is in fact the car they ordered."