Four Women Sexually Assaulted in Uber Car Service-Related Instances in Boston, Massachusetts
A Boston man has been charged with sexual assault and battery for attacking a woman in his Uber car. This is the latest in a string of sexual harassment cases in Boston.
Alejandro Done, 46, the driver on contract with Uber, was arrested for having attacked a female passenger whom he picked up at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 6 in Boston, according to Boston.com. The victim told police he locked her inside the cab, hit her, strangled her and sexual assaulted her.
Speaking to police afterwards, the victim said the driver wanted cash instead of credit cards, which is what Uber instructs. The man drove her to an ATM and afterwards took her to a secluded area where the attack happened.
Uber condemned the incident and Done's actions. They added, however, that he had passed the company's background check and that he was not on call when he picked up the victim.
"This is a despicable crime and our thoughts and prayers are with the victim during her recovery," Uber spokesperson Kaitlin Durkosh wrote in a statement to Boston.com. "Uber has been working closely with law enforcement and will continue to do everything we can to assist their investigation."
Done has been charged with rape, assault to rape, kidnapping and two counts of assault and battery, the Middlesex District Attorney's office said, adding that he is being held without bail.
This is not the only Uber driver who has assaulted women. CBS Boston reports three other women have reported assaults in three different instances. All the assaults happened in a two-hour span on Sunday Dec. 14.
The first attack took place at 1 a.m. when a woman who called the service entered a cab she thought was her Uber, only to be offered money and touched inappropriately. The real Uber car then called her, and she demanded the car she was in stop.
In the second incident, at 2:30 a.m., the driver touched the passenger inappropriately, and she demanded to be dropped off.
Twenty minutes later, a woman was picked up and fell asleep only to wake up and see she was being sexually assaulted.
Uber warned against people not taking clearly identified taxis.
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