COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) – Columbus police say a female cab driver was kidnapped in broad daylight on New Year’s Day. Her alleged kidnapper, later identified as Saiveon Small, made his first appearance in Columbus Recorder’s Court this morning.

According to police testimony given by Detective Christy Edenfield today, Small kidnapped the driver as he held her at knifepoint and directed her to drive north on I-185. The two made it over 200 miles outside of Columbus when authorities apprehended Small in Ringgold, Georgia.

Small told the court the two stopped at a Harris County Chevron where Small pulled out $200 and paid the driver upfront for the out-of-town trip. Police say, the driver asked for police assistance through the cab company’s dispatch system and was constantly sending her location as the two traveled north. That’s how authorities were alerted.

When police arrived at the gas station in Ringgold, Small ran into the nearby woods and was taken into custody.

Saiveon Small is being represented by Defense Attorney William Kendrick Jr. Kendrick says this was probably more of a misunderstanding.

“We feel confident that he’s going to show that he did make payment. And that is this is probably more of a misunderstanding than a kidnapping or false imprisonment… At the end of the day, you have to look at how the situation ended in Ringgold right? So if an individual is being accosted with with a knife or with a firearm and, you know, told to drive for 215 miles. Right. What makes the stop in Ringgold different from the stop in Harris? Or the stop in Fairburn, right?”

William Kendrick Jr. – Defense Attorney

Chief Recorders court Judge, David Ranieri set a 5-thousand-dollar bond on the possession of a knife during the commission of a crime charge and denied bond on kidnapping and false Imprisonment. The case has been bound over to Superior Court.

The driver broke her silence in a News 3 exclusive, saying her alleged kidnapper knew she was pregnant and threatened her life and the life of her unborn child.

WRBL has elected to withhold the identity of the driver for her own safety.

Judge Ranieri ordered a no contact with the victim and ‘Catch A Cab’.