ICE Seeks Uber Rape Suspect

Immigration agents are searching for a previously deported Dominican man who is now charged with raping a woman while driving for Uber, after he posted $2,500 bail before they could file a detainer to deport him a second time.

Newton District Court Judge Mary Beth Heffernan ordered Luis Baez, 34, held on $2,500 bail Tuesday for the three rape counts dating back to a September 2016 incident — even as prosecutors argued Baez had been deported before and needed at least $100,000 bail and GPS monitoring to ensure he didn’t bolt.

Baez’s friend put up the $2,500 cash, and Baez was gone before an immigration detainer could be filed, according to an ICE official who said Baez was deported from the U.S. in 2010.

“I sincerely doubt he is going to come back to court,” the ICE official said. “He’s probably on the run.”

Baez, who has been living in Boston, is charged with raping a woman he picked up while he was driving for Uber under a false name. Prosecutors say Baez, using the name Pedro Valentin, picked up the woman in Boston on Sept. 29, 2016, and drove her to a location other than her destination and sexually assaulted her.

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Uber said the company is investigating how Baez was able to drive with the service using the false name.