YAVAPAI COUNTY, Ariz. (Court TV) — An Arizona man accused of posing as an Uber driver and kidnapping a woman is facing multiple charges.
Jacob Wilhoit, 41, was arrested Aug. 22 after the alleged victim passed a note to someone at a gas station in Seligman. “The note included a description of the van the woman was in, a phone number, and said that they were going to Kingman and Las Vegas,” said a press release from the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.
This booking photo provided by the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office shows Jacob Wilhoit. (Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office)
Dispatchers determined the woman had been reported missing that day by her mother, and Wilhoit was named as a person of of interest. Authorities did not state how Wilhoit and the woman knew each other.
Wilhoit had allegedly kidnapped the woman from a car dealership in Phoenix the day before. She was restrained as they drove to Lake Mead park outside of Las Vegas, where they spent the night, said authorities.
The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office credited “the victim’s extraordinary action in passing the note, the customer’s willingness to assist and the quick action of (authorities)” in saving the woman.
Wilhoit is charged with harassment, threatening, and intimidating, aggravated assault, unlawful imprisonment, kidnapping and several other assault charges.
