Zachery Johnson
An Ooltewah man has been charged with raping a female Uber driver in an incident on Saturday night that began at the Chili's on Gunbarrel Road.
Zachery Johnson is charged with aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated sexual battery and carjacking.
Police said a Chili's employee felt Johnson had had too much to drink and paid his Uber fare. He told the Uber driver, "This is Zach. He’s a good guy. He’s a regular here. Here are his car keys.”
The woman said shortly after she pulled away that Johnson began trying to take over the vehicle, but she said she fought him off. She said Johnson came out of his seat, wrapped his arms around her, grabbed her by the throat and began kissing her face.
The woman's boyfriend called her while the attack was going on, then called 911. However, dispatchers were unable to learn the woman's location until 90 minutes later.
The boyfriend could hear the man saying, "Come here baby, come here baby!" and his girlfriend replying, "I don't want to! I don't want to!"
She wound up about three miles from Chili's on a cul-de-sac of Pebble Drive. Police rescued the female driver and took Johnson into custody.
The woman told police, "That was agony."