Uber Driver Charged With Raping A Female Passenger In His Backseat
He allegedly picked up a female passenger, asked her to get cash out of an ATM, and took her to a secluded area where he beat and raped her.
By Sadho Ram — 19 Dec 2014, 03:11 PM — Updated almost 10 years ago
In what has become a frequent trend around the world, yet another driver for the Uber has been charged with rape and kidnapping
Prosecutors in Cambridge, Mass., on Wednesday charged an Uber driver with sexually assaulting a woman seeking a ride, the latest in a series of attacks on people who use the ride-hailing service.
nytimes.com
The 46-year-old driver is accused of picking up a young woman in Boston on 6 December while presenting himself as the driver who had been summoned through Uber. He then drove to a secluded location where he beat and raped the woman, The NYT reports.
He reportedly picked up the victim at approximately 7:30 p.m. on December 6th after she arranged for a ride via the service.
Done is charged with taking the woman, whose name has not been disclosed, to a remote location and then beating and sexually assaulting her.
A statement given by the police says that Uber co-operated and aided the authorities in the investigation of this incident
Police said they identified the defendant as the driver of the car through company records.
It wasn’t known whether he used information he gained through his position as an Uber driver to target the victim, according to the statement Wednesday by Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan and Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas.
The driver had passed the background check on the local, state and federal level that Uber requires of its drivers. Meanwhile, Uber issued the following statement regarding the investigation:
This is a despicable crime and our thoughts and prayers are with the victim during her recovery. Uber has been working closely with law enforcement and will continue to do everything we can to assist their investigation.
techcrunch.com
To make matters worse, this is not the only recent rape allegation made against an Uber driver in Boston this month
The Boston Globe notes, shockingly, the accusation of rape follows three other complaints of molestation and inappropriate behaviour lodged against Uber drivers in the same area this month.
In fact, one of the women said that an Uber driver offered her money and 'touched her inappropriately' in the car.
firstpost.com
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Uber said it planned to invest in more comprehensive screening technologies to vet drivers, including biometric and voice identification techniques
Uber said it would also set up emergency response teams in its offices around the world, in order to assist passengers and the authorities in case of an emergency.
nytimes.com