Lyft driver’s ‘attempted kidnapping’ just a misunderstanding

Police tape is seen wrapped around a power pole in San Francisco. Police tape is seen wrapped around a power pole in San Francisco. Photo: Bill Hutchinson Photo: Bill Hutchinson Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Lyft driver’s ‘attempted kidnapping’ just a misunderstanding 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

San Francisco police say the case of a woman who jumped out of a Lyft car after her driver went in the opposite direction of her neighborhood — initially reported as an attempted kidnapping — turned out to be a misunderstanding in which no crime was committed.

The 28-year-old woman, who was picked in the Diamond Heights neighborhood Thursday night, jumped out of the car and broke her ankle when the driver went the opposite direction from where she lived, said Officer Albie Esparza. The woman had told the driver to stop, Esparza said, but the driver kept on going.

The woman jumped out of the car at a stop light and took off running, breaking her ankle in the process.

It turned out that the driver was hard of hearing and did not hear the woman’s request to stop, Esparza said. Investigators believe he was heading toward the woman’s home, but via a different route from what the woman expected.

“There was no criminal maliciousness. There was no criminal intent,” Esparza said.

Hamed Aleaziz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @haleaziz