Lyft driver arrested after exposing himself to teen, family blames Lyft

Fiat
500 painted pink and carrying a Lyft logo is parked in the
streets of Manhattan.

Roman
Tirapolsky/shutterstock

• A Lyft driver was arrested 12
  days after he allegedly exposed himself to a teenage rider in the
  backseat of his car.
• The victim’s lawyer and family are blaming the company for
  not doing more to help.
• A Lyft spokesperson said it proactively reached out to police
  when it first learned of the incident and has banned the
  driver.  

Lyft declined to help police identify a driver accused of
exposing himself to teenage girl, adding two weeks to their
search for Narinder Singh,
the New York Post first reported Thursday.

An NYPD spokesperson confirmed that the 25-year-old was arrested
on October 24 and charged with endangering the welfare of a child
and harassment, 12 days after the girl, who has not been
identified, caught the incident on video. The three-second clip,
shot from the back seat, appears to show Singh masturbating in
the drivers’ seat.

“The reporting of crimes like this should not have so many
impediments,” the victim’s lawyer said in a letter to the TLC,
according to the Post. “It should not have taken 12 days to
identify and arrest this perpetrator whose identity was being
shielded by Lyft. Most importantly, the victim should not be made
to feel that the privacy rights of the perpetrator supersede her
rights as a crime victim.”

A Lyft spokesperson said the company reached out to police after
it learned of the incident, letting them know its internal
processes for these types of situations. “We won’t be
able to provide any information without a valid subpoena, court
order, or search warrant,” the company’s site says.

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In a statement, the company called the incident “horrific and
deeply concerning.”

“Safety is Lyft’s top priority and the behavior described has
absolutely no place on our platform,” it said. “Upon learning of
the allegations, we permanently banned the driver from our
platform, reached out to law enforcement to offer our assistance
with their investigation, and have been in touch with the
passenger’s family to extend our support. We stand ready to
assist in law enforcement.”

The Taxi and Limousine Commission confirmed Singh’s license has
been suspended pending the outcome of his case, but declined any
further comment.

Singh is scheduled to appear in the Queens Criminal Court on
December 6, according to state records. The phone number listed
on the court’s website for his attorney, Gary Francis Miret, has
been disconnected.