BOSTON, MA – On March 20, Kamal Essalak, 47, was arrested on a warrant charging that he held a woman against her will, inside his vehicle two nights earlier in the city's Brighton neighborhood. The suspect is an Uber driver and the victim was his passenger.
The woman stated that soon after she got into the Uber, Essalak started behaving in a strange manner, so she asked him to stop the car and let her out.
"She said, 'Sir, pull over and let me out immediately,' to which he responded, 'It’s just a joke. Come on, we are going to have fun,'" stated Assistant District Attorney Margaret Hegarty.
The victim said that Essalak stopped the vehicle and climbed into the backseat with her and began laughing, while she screamed and pounded on the locked doors and windows for help, according to court documents.
Apparently, Essalak had enabled the child safety locks on the rear doors, effectively trapping her inside the rideshare vehicle.
Eventually, the woman climbed into the driver's seat and escaped.
Essalak was charged with kidnapping and held over the weekend.
On March 22, through an interpreter, he pleaded not guilty, and despite the serious nature of the charge, allowed to walk out of a Brighton District Court on only a personal recognizance bond (i.e. NO BAIL).
WCVB reported:
"There is a distinct language barrier here, I think this is a great misunderstanding. But I don’t know all of the facts, so we have to investigate that," said defense attorney Thomas Chirokas.
Essalak is next scheduled to appear in court on May 11.
*What the MSM has failed to report in this case is that the suspect is a Moroccan national (hence, the "distinct language barrier"), who came to this country approximately 11 years ago, and obviously represents a flight risk. Of course, Boston is also a well-known 'sanctuary city.'
