Kidnapped rideshare driver forced to take man from Texas to Florida, federal prosecutors say

A Texas man kidnapped a ride-share driver at gunpoint and forced him to drive more than 1,000 miles to South Florida, federal authorities said.

The horrific ordeal occurred Friday night when Miguel Alejandro Pastran Hernandez, 23, asked a ride-share service to pick him up at a closed gas station near Arlington, Texas, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a statement Thursday.

At the pickup location, “Pastrán Hernandez pulled out a gun and the victim heard a bullet being loaded into the gun,” federal prosecutors said.

“Pastran Hernandez threatened to tie up the driver and place him in the back seat of the vehicle,” the statement said. “Pastran Hernandez then ordered the victim to drive through several states to Florida.”

The victim drove until Saturday morning, and then as they drove through Louisiana, Pastran Hernandez told the driver to call the children and tell him they were on a long business trip, according to an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint.

At about that time, Pastran Hernandez also noticed that the driver had a 9mm gun in the vehicle, which Pastran Hernandez took, the complaint states.

Pastran Hernandez and the driver arrived in Florida on Saturday night and drove to Miami Beach on Sunday, where Pastran Hernandez saw a possible second victim, the complaint states.

Pastran Hernandez instructed the driver to go to a store in Hialeah on Monday to buy supplies for a second kidnapping for ransom, prosecutors said.

While inside the store, driver Pastran Hernandez escaped and was later arrested and found with a bag containing a loaded gun, prosecutors said.

Pastran Hernandez planned to kidnap a second person and hold him for a ransom of $3 million, the indictment says.

Pastran Hernandez appeared in federal court Tuesday on charges of kidnapping, car theft and possession of a weapon in furtherance of a violent crime. He was remanded in custody, prosecutors said.

Pastran Hernandez’s public defender did not respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.

His detention hearing is scheduled for Monday, and his arraignment is set for Sept. 3, prosecutors said.

A trip from Arlington to Hialeah is more than 1,300 miles long.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com.