ARLINGTON, Texas — The man accused of kidnapping a rideshare driver by forcing them at gunpoint to drive more than 1,300 miles to Miami, Florida, was indicted by a grand jury last week.
Miguel Alejandro Pastran Hernandez, 23, was indicted Aug. 28 in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida on complaints of kidnapping, carjacking and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
Miguel Alejandro Pastran Hernandez hailed a ride in Arlington using Lyft at about 10:30 p.m. Aug. 16, the rideshare driver picked him up and drove him to the designated drop-off point, which was a gas station that appeared closed, according to court records. Pastran Hernandez produced and chambered a gun once there, officials say.
The driver offered Pastran Hernandez anything he wanted in the car, but Pastran Hernandez threatened to tie the driver up and put the driver in the back of the vehicle, authorities say.
The rideshare driver pleaded with Pastran Hernandez to drive and Pastran Hernandez asked him to start driving toward Florida and maintain the speed limit, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The driver had an unloaded 9mm handgun and ammunition stored separately in the car, which Pastran Hernandez found and kept, court records show.
After they’d been in the car for about 12 hours, Pastran Hernandez ordered the driver to call his or her children and tell them he or she was “on a long work trip so the children would not be suspicious of the victim’s absence,” according to the affidavit. They were in Louisiana at that time, about 11 a.m. on Aug. 17.
They arrived in the Miami Beach area Aug. 18 and once there, Pastran Hernandez ordered the driver to take him to surveil another person, according to court records. Pastran Hernandez allegedly said he intended to kidnap the person and hold that person for a $3 million ransom.
Pastran Hernandez, on Aug. 19, ordered the driver to take him to a Dollar General store in Hialeah, Florida to buy supplies for the second kidnapping, according to court records. The driver hid in the bathroom of the store until police arrived, court records show.
It's unclear whether the driver contacted police themselves or if they alerted store clerks. Pastran Hernandez fled, but authorities caught him in Hollywood, Florida three hours later.
Pastran Hernandez admitted to kidnapping the rideshare driver at gunpoint during an interview with law enforcement, the affidavit says.
Court documents didn’t identify the rideshare driver. It’s also unclear where Pastran Hernandez lives or why he was in Arlington.
