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Denver professor: Uber driver ‘wouldn’t unlock the doors’

In a series of tweets, law professor Nancy Leong described being trapped by an Uber driver, who was supposed to be driving her to Denver International Airport. It is unclear whether police will investigate the alleged incident.
A series of tweets by law professor Nancy Leong describe being trapped by an Uber driver, who was supposed to be driving her to the airport.

DENVER— Uber says it has banned a Denver-area driver from its app and is investigating after a University of Denver professor described a “terrifying” Uber ride to the airport in a series of tweets Tuesday morning.

“He said he was going to ‘take me to a hotel’ and got off the highway. We got to a stop light. I started yelling ‘let me out of the f---ing car’ and he wouldn’t unlock the doors,” law professor Nancy Leong wrote on Twitter. “I started pounding on the windows until some construction workers looked over.”

“He unlocked the doors and I jumped out but my suitcase was in the trunk,” she continued. “I started screaming and pounding on the trunk until he popped it open. Then he got out of the car and started coming toward me.”

Leong posted that she called another Uber so she wouldn’t miss her flight.

Hours after the public tweets were being shared and discussed by thousands of people, Leong's Twitter account went offline, along with all of her tweets. Those tweets have since been restored and her account is once again active.

9NEWS reached out to Leong and to DU to learn more. A DU spokesperson said Leong "declined interviews because she is worried about the information Uber drivers have about their passengers."

It’s unclear whether Leong has filed or intends to file a police report. Denver Police replied on Twitter to encourage her to call them and start a “proper investigation.”

Leong had tweeted that she knew the driver's license plate number and that he didn't look like the driver pictured in her Uber app.

In a written statement, an Uber spokesperson told 9NEWS, “what Nancy described is awful and unacceptable. This driver has been blocked from the app and we are investigating.”

The same spokesperson confirmed that the man behind the wheel was "not a poser driver" and said the company was able to make contact with her by Tuesday evening.

The company says blocking drivers from the app is its standard response to a report of improper behavior and that it will attempt to speak with both parties and gather facts to investigate the alleged incident.

If Leong files a police report, and investigators want more information, Uber says it will cooperate.

9NEWS will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.

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