- A 34-year-old man in Seattle was arrested in connection to rape charges after turning himself in.
- According to police, the man posed as a woman’s Uber driver to lure her into his car.
On the heels of news that Samantha Josephson, a senior at the University of South Carolina, was found dead after getting in a car she thought was her Uber, the Washington Post reports that another woman in her 20s was sexually assaulted by a man posing as her Uber driver in Seattle in December 2018, in what King County police say is an increasing crime trend.
According to a Facebook post from the King County sheriff’s office, the 34-year-old man was driving a black car through Seattle one night in mid-December 2018 when he pulled up to a bar around 12:15 a.m. and told a woman waiting outside, whose identity is being kept private, that he was her Uber driver. She got into the backseat and about 10 miles south of where she was picked up, the man reportedly pulled his car over and sexually assaulted her.
After police published surveillance photos they believed to be the false Uber driver, he reportedly turned himself in and is now being held for investigation of rape.
The story is the second in recent months involving a man who posed as an Uber driver to ultimately harm a young woman. Earlier this week, Cosmopolitan reported that Josephson, a 21-year-old student at USC, was found dead about 90 miles from where she was last seen entering a car she believed to be her Uber, police said.
Ryan Abbott, a sergeant with the King County Sheriff’s Office, told the Washington Post his department alone has seen an increase in cases involving fake Uber drivers.
“It’s definitely happening more,” Abbott told the Washington Post. “We’re seeing people impersonating ride shares to try to get people into their car.”
To help protect riders and hopefully cut down on crimes like these, representatives in South Carolina introduced the Samantha L. Josephson Ridesharing Safety Act in the state House, which would require drivers to mark vehicles used for ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft with illuminated signs. In the Seattle case, for instance, Uber quickly confirmed that the driver who turned himself in in connection to the assault in December is not an Uber employee.
Still, even with increased awareness and protections in place, Abbott warns riders to be cautious and look out for themselves. Before getting in any Uber, Lyft, or car-hailing service, check the license plate number, car description, and name. “Because once you are in the backseat of a car,” Abbott told the Washington Post, ”you might not be able to get out of there.”
