Cops Say Phony Uber Driver Kidnapped Women, Got Busted Wearing Fake Penis

TUSCALOOSA, AL — A Tuscaloosa man was arrested after reportedly impersonating a ride-share driver to abduct inebriated female college students. Police say they arrested the suspect with an unconscious woman in his car and that his phone contained images of another seemingly passed-out woman.

In addition, the arrest affidavit states that, when confronted by deputies, the suspect was wearing a “fully erect” artificial penis.

Tommy Wayne Beard, 62, is accused of cruising college-area bars in a car with an “Uber vehicle” light mounted on his dashboard. Police say they approached Beard’s car while it was parked on the side of a highway at around 1:30 A.M., and that Beard was outside the vehicle at the time.

According to the arrest affidavit, the deputies noted that Beard “appeared to have an erection.” Further questioning reportedly revealed that Beard was wearing artificial “fully erect male genitalia.”

The deputies further allege that a 22-year-old University of Alabama student was unconscious in the back of Beard’s car. Beard reportedly said he was an Uber driver and he was taking the woman home. Upon waking the passenger, she allegedly told the cops the last thing she remembered was leaving a downtown Tuscaloosa bar.

Reportedly, the woman lived near the bar she’d been at and Beard’s stopped vehicle was seven miles away from that location — and just a half-mile away from his own residence.

Beard allegedly confessed to the deputies that he was not an actual Uber driver, but that he just purchased the dashboard sign and charged people for rides.

From there, the officers say they searched the car and confiscated a loaded firearm and a bottle of hair conditioner. The cops also reportedly made Beard hand over his fake penis.

Authorities allege that Beard’s phone contained photos that appeared to be taken in his car that depicted “another clothed young female, focusing on her breast and crotch area.”

A subsequent search of Beard’s home allegedly turned up electronic devices that helped police identify two more possible victims. In 2018, one of those women was reportedly found walking out of the woods, unaware of how she had gotten there. Cops allege that Beard’s phone contained contact information for that woman.

Beard has been charged with two felony kidnapping counts and impersonating a ride-share driver. He is reportedly being held on $30,000 bond.

Police are asking anyone else who may have paid Beard for a ride to contact the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit at (205) 464-8690.

Read more: WBMA-TV, KUTV, The Smoking Gun