Sexual Predators Posing as Uber and Lyft Drivers
In January of last year, a woman got into what she believed was an Uber outside a Hollywood nightclub. Instead, her evening turned into a nightmare as she had unwittingly entered the vehicle of a rapist posing as an Uber driver, who took her to a secluded area and assaulted her. Nicolas Morales, 44, was charged in late February with raping seven women across the Los Angeles region between 2016 and 2018.
Morales has been charged with more than two dozen felony counts relating to sexual assault, as well as attempted kidnapping. If convicted, he faces up to 300 years in prison and will have to register as a lifetime sex offender.
This arrest illustrates a potentially alarming new trend for sexual predators. Posing as ride share drivers, they go to popular bars and nightclubs and search for women who appear to be intoxicated and waiting for rides. They pretend to be drivers to lure women into their vehicles. These criminals operate on the hopes that the women aren’t paying attention to the make and model of the vehicle and just hop into the car that pulls over for them.
A similar crime also happened recently in Chicago. Thirty-three year-old Musaab Afandi was charged with sexually assaulting five women in the Chicago area by posing as an Uber driver. In each case, he approached women waiting outside bars or restaurants and asked them if they were waiting for Ubers. He would take them to secluded streets and assault them. Afandi was linked to several of these assaults through DNA evidence.
And, yet another similar assault occurred at American University in Washington, DC last year when two students flagged down what they thought was an idle Uber for a ride home after a night out. The driver dropped off the male passenger and brought the female passenger to a remote parking lot and assaulted her.
Rapists are taking advantage of the booming popularity of ride sharing apps. Because Uber and Lyft and other ride sharing companies use regular vehicles and not yellow cabs or marked black livery cars, it’s easier for predators to pose as drivers. Authorities are warning customers that, before getting into any vehicle, they should check the car description and license plate number against their app to ensure it’s the correct and legitimate vehicle.
According to the watchdog website, Who’s Driving You?, there have been more than 350 alleged sexual assaults in Lyft and Uber vehicles.
Nobody should experience the trauma of sexual assault. The lawyers at Taylor & Ring are here to listen to your story and provide compassionate and skilled representation. If you need help in Los Angeles or Southern California, call us today at 310.776.6390 or complete our contact form to schedule a consultation.
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David Ring is a nationally renowned plaintiff’s personal injury trial attorney and has obtained multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements on behalf of seriously-injured individuals or families who have lost a loved one in a tragic accident. For more than 20 years, he has represented victims of sexual abuse, sexual harassment, assault, molestation and sexual misconduct in cases against a variety of employers and entities, including schools, churches and youth organizations.
He prides himself on providing aggressive, yet compassionate representation for children who have been sexually abused and women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted. Read more about David M. Ring.