Uber Ride to Work Release Ends in Jail for Gary Man

GARY, Ind — What started as a routine Uber ride to a work release program ended with a trip to jail, Indiana State Police said Monday.

The driver, a woman from Gary, picked up 22-year-old Isaiah Malik Johnson on Arizona Street, heading to the Lake County Community Corrections Kimbrough Center in Crown Point.

According to the driver, Johnson initially rode in the front seat and then began making inappropriate comments. She says he exposed himself and acted in a sexually suggestive manner. The driver asked him to leave the vehicle multiple times and reported the incident to staff after arriving at the Kimbrough Center.

Indiana State Police detectives from the Lowell Post were called in to investigate on Oct. 8. Johnson admitted asking for the driver’s phone number but denied any indecent behavior, police said. Investigators said evidence from interviews and other details supported the driver’s account.

On Oct. 9, Johnson was charged with indecent exposure, a Class C misdemeanor. He is being held at the Lake County Jail while the case is reviewed by the prosecutor’s office.

Johnson is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court, police said.