Uber Driver ‘Abducted Female Passenger and Raped Her After She Called a Cab on a Saturday Night’
Hannah Al-Othman, Daily Mail, March 7, 2017
An Uber driver has been arrested on suspicion of abducting and sexually assaulting a woman who called for a ride.
Sewanou Yoro has been charged with abduction, rape and aggravated sexual assault following the alleged incident in Virginia Beach on Saturday night.
Police say Yoro sexually assaulted a female passenger he picked up between 9.30pm and 10.30pm that evening, in the Bay Colony area on Linkhorn Bay near the Oceanfront.
Court records show that Yoro has been a part-time driver for Uber for two to three years, earning about $350 a week.
Yoro, who has no previous convictions, told General District Judge Gene Woolard that he lives alone in Norfolk.
He said he has lived in the area since 2010 and that he owns his home as well as his 2009 Mitsubishi, The Virginian-Pilot reports.
Yoro is being held without bond in the city jail, ahead of a preliminary hearing on May 4. The judge appointed him a public defender.
The popular ridesharing app tracks the driver’s location and creates and shares a record with the driver’s name and photograph and the car’s make, model and license number before each rider enters the vehicle.
Police did not say whether this information helped them make an arrest in this case.
No further details about the victim were released, aside from the fact that she was an adult.
There have been a number of sexual assault cases involving Uber drivers, including a previous incident in Virginia Beach.
In 2015, Uber driver Isagani A. Marin pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge after he harassed and assaulted a 13-year-old girl.
He was given a six-month suspended sentence.
Uber has struggled with a number of blows to its public image in recent weeks, following incidents which included CEO Travis Kalanick fighting with a driver.