Both so-called “rideshare” services, Uber and Lyft have a history of hiring illegal aliens, along with many “migrants” from countries whose culture views women and children as nothing more than property. Not surprisingly, at least 395 women were sexually assaulted as a result of using both of the popular ridesharing services between 2013 and 2018, according to the watchdog website “Who’s Driving You?”1
In 2017, the state of Colorado actually fined Uber $8.9 million for allowing people with criminal convictions to work as drivers.
Perhaps, the most notorious incident, though buried by the national press, once it was discovered the perpetrator was an illegal alien, was the case of the man who came to be known as the “Rideshare Rapist.”
On July 16, 2018, 37-year-old Orlando Lazo was taken into custody and charged with a string of sexual assaults, all of which took place in the San Francisco area.
Initially, the mainstream media claimed that he merely “posed” as a driver for both Uber and Lyft, but was not employed by either of the rideshare giants.
However, KRON 4 News reported receiving the following statement from Lyft:
We have confirmed that this person did drive for Lyft, but as soon as we were made aware of these horrific and deeply disturbing allegations, we immediately deactivated him. We are still investigating at this time, but with the information presented, we have no reason to believe these incidents occurred on the platform.2
Police were able to link the illegal alien from Peru to four rapes, through DNA evidence. But, given the fact that the four attacks occurred between 2013 and 2018, detectives believe there are likely many more victims.
Lazo was charged with four counts each of rape, false imprisonment, and kidnapping. He was booked into the San Francisco County Jail without bail. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has also filed a detainer against the Peruvian national.
All of the victims used ridesharing apps, when leaving bars in San Francisco, only to be driven to a remote location and raped.
What follows is a list involving both Uber and Lyft drivers from foreign countries, who sexually assaulted their passengers:
• In May 2019, police in Berkeley, California, arrested Ethiopian national, Gebrele Abebe Amare, 23, after he reportedly trapped two women in his vehicle, in two separate incidents.
During the first, Amare picked up a woman on her way to work, but during the ride, he told her he would take her “to a room,” instead, according to the victim. The Uber driver refused to stop the car, and would not allow her to use her phone.
The woman only escaped by jumping from the moving car, even as Amare sped up. Though she suffered several injuries, she managed to run to a nearby gas station for help.
KPIX reported:
Later the same morning, police say Amare picked up another Uber customer, this time a teenage girl. According to court records, Amare touched the victim on her thigh, locked the doors, refused to let her out of the car.
He only ended up releasing the girl when she threatened to break the windows.
Amare was arrested on May 9 in the area of Ashby and Telegraph. The two women were able to identify Amare in a photo line-up. Both provided police with documentation from Uber that showed Amare’s first name and identified him and his vehicle.3
Amare was charged with two felony charges of kidnapping with intent to rape. He confessed to kidnapping the first victim, saying he wanted to have sex with her and “pimp” her.
• In March 2019, police in Boston arrested 37-year-old Daudah Mayanja, a Ugandan national, and charged him with two counts of rape. The Uber driver’s victim required hospitalization following the brutal attack.The rape occurred at approximately 1:15 a.m., inside Mayanja’s vehicle, while parked on Storrow Drive near the Hatch Memorial Shell, according to a police report.
An Uber spokesperson has released the following statement: “What’s been reported is horrible and something no one should ever go through. We stand ready to support law enforcement with their investigation.”
• In December 2018, police in Austin, Texas, arrested 23-year-old Lyft driver, Fidele Ngirishyaka, after he reportedly attempted to sodomize his disabled male passenger. The victim, Michael Boyd, relies on ridesharing services, as he is confined to a wheelchair.
When they returned to Boyd’s residence, the victim thought the African migrant was coming around to open his door and help him into his wheelchair. However, the driver had other thoughts on his mind.
“He pulled my head real hard to the side, and when he pulled my head, not only did I lose my balance, but he pulled me into his pelvis and smashed my nose,” he said. “I told him no. It was happening so quick. I was shaking in my voice. Shaking in the car,” Boyd told KXAN.4
Fidele Ngirishyaka has been charged with multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault.
• In November 2018, Jefferson County (CO) Sheriff’s Deputies arrested Uber driver Ahmed Muse, and charged him with second-degree kidnapping, false imprisonment, and harassment. The victim is a 15-year-old girl.
Brianna Allen was leaving her job at the Cast Iron Tavern, just as she does every Saturday night, and decided to call for an Uber. The ride home that should have taken an uneventful 15 minutes, turned into an hour and a half ordeal, that this teen will never forget.
KDVR reported: “Muse bypassed her home, saying that the app wasn’t functioning and that he had to drop off other passengers first, according to deputies.
“Knowing that she was a few blocks from home, she offered the driver $10 so she could walk home so she didn’t have to travel to Interstate 76 and Pecos, the destination for another passenger, just to return to Golden, according to law enforcement.
“When the driver finally drove Allen back home, the teenager said the driver forced himself on her.
“He locked the doors, turned off all the interior lights and kissed me on the cheek twice. And so I tried pushing him away, and he grabbed the back of my neck and kissed me on the lips,” she recalls. “I saw the unlock button, I clicked it, and I got out of the car.”
Muse has been charged with second-degree kidnapping, false imprisonment, and harassment.
• In November 2018, Ahmed M. Elgaafary appeared in a Lancaster, Pennsylvania courtroom for a preliminary hearing after detectives said the Uber driver raped his female passenger, once she fell asleep in his car. The “migrant” picked up the woman from the Valley Forge Casino. Elgaafary was charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, misdemeanor, indecent assault without consent, and indecent assault of an unconscious person.5
• In October 2018, Harbir Parmar, 24, an Uber driver in the Queens borough of New York City, abducted a woman who fell asleep in his vehicle. He then climbed into the back seat with her, groped her, and eventually threw her out of the car on the side of the highway in a different state.
NBC News reported:
The woman woke up to find the driver “with his hand under her shirt touching the top of her breast,” according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday.
The woman reached for her phone, the complaint said, but Parmar took it from her and continued driving. She asked the driver to take her to the police station but Parmar refused, the complaint said.
Parmar eventually left the woman on the side of Interstate 95 in Branford, Connecticut, about an hour’s drive east of her home. The complaint said the woman memorized Parmar’s license plate and called a cab from a nearby convenience store.6
Parmar was charged with kidnapping in U.S. District Court.
To add insult to injury, Uber charged the victim more than $1,000 for the harrowing ride.
• In July 2018, Selvin Chocooj, an illegal alien Uber driver from Guatemala, was sentenced to 19 months in prison, after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting his female passenger in Washington, D.C.
The Washington Examiner reported:
The two had been driving in the Toyota Prius near the 400 block of East Capitol Street NE, when the driver touched her breast “by force and against her will,” the court documents stated.
“The complainant resisted the defendant’s advance and a physical struggle ensued. During this struggle, Mr. Chocooj sustained injuries to his face and the complainant sustained injuries to her neck and shoulder,” it added. “During this struggle, the defendant physically forced the complainant out of the vehicle, got back into the car, and drove away. The complainant remained on scene and called 911.” 7
The following day, when D.C. Metro police officers went to Chocooj’s apartment, he managed to escape by jumping from a third-story window. It would take nearly two more weeks until the illegal alien was apprehended in Kentucky.
• In April 2018, Frederick Amfo, 30, an illegal alien Uber driver from Ghana, was taken into custody and arrested after he reportedly raped his female passenger in the backseat of his vehicle, in Weymouth, Massachusetts. DNA evidence collected from a rape kit matched Amfo.
The accused rapist should have been held for ICE, and his passport taken. However, because Massachusetts is officially a “sanctuary state,” the Quincy District Court refused to honor the detainer, and Amfo was allowed to be freed on $10,000 bail.
He subsequently boarded a plane and fled to his native Ghana.
In a brave move, the victim, Emily Murray, chose to come forward and spoke to Fox News:
“I was angry, I’m still angry. I’m confused. If I went to Ghana and I committed a crime, I wouldn’t expect to be able to hop on a plane and say sorry about that, here’s some money,” she said Tuesday.
“I would expect to answer for it. Accountability. And there had been just zero. He proclaims his innocence and then just leaves?” she said. “I feel hurt. … People get blamed for not coming forward and then get victimized more when they do.”8
Though Ghana has had an extradition policy with the United States since 1935, it is highly unlikely that Ms. Murray will ever see justice served in this case.
• In January 2018, police in San Luis Obispo, California, arrested previously deported Uber driver, Alfonso Alarcon-Nunez, 39, at his home.
The illegal alien was wanted for a string of rapes. Though deported in 2005, he was able to obtain a California driver’s license in 2015, according to the San Luis Obispo District Attorney.
KSBY reported:
The DA’s Office says there are four known victims, all women between the ages of 19 and 22. Three attend Cal Poly. The other attends Cuesta College. The alleged crimes are said to have occurred on Dec. 17, 2017; Jan. 5, 2018; and Jan. 14, 2018.
Detectives say Alarcon-Nunez would search for parties and solicit rides as an Uber driver, targeting intoxicated women. Police say he would then drive the women to their homes, assault them, and steal property from them, including cell phones, computers, and jewelry. Investigators say he would collect payment through Venmo to disguise his identity and his Uber records.
“We actually have evidence that we’ve obtained in this case, some forensic cyber evidence with information that causes us to know that there are other victims out here,” [District Attorney] Dow said.9
An Uber spokeswoman told KSBY: “...the driver has been permanently removed from the app.”
Alarcon-Nunez, who also goes by the name “Bruno Diaz,” was charged with multiple felonies, including rape of an intoxicated victim, first-degree burglary, and oral copulation of an intoxicated victim, plus assault with the intent to commit a sex offense, forcible rape, and grand theft.
• In September 2017, Monongalia County (WV) Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 37-year-old African immigrant, Ademola Ajibade, after he reportedly raped his “physically helpless” female victim. The Lyft driver was charged with second-degree sexual assault, and booked into the North Central Regional Jail. 10
Silencing the victim...
In May 2018, two weeks after CNN aired a damning report on the number of sexual assaults perpetrated by Uber drivers upon their female passengers, the rideshare giant announced that they would no longer force victims into arbitration, a practice Uber “required under its terms of service,” since the company’s inception.
“Instead, Uber will allow victims of sexual violence, including riders, drivers, and employees, to choose the venue in which they want to pursue redress of their sexual harassment or assault claims, whether that’s arbitration, mediation, or open court,” reported CNN.11
A few months earlier, it was learned a class-action lawsuit, involving multiple sexual assault victims, had been filed against Uber in California, in order to stop the company’s policy of arbitration, as well as forcing victims to sign confidentiality agreements in order to be awarded a settlement.
In turn, Uber filed a motion, claiming that riders had no right to settle disputes in open court, and had no right to file the lawsuit.
In March 2018, The Guardian reported: “Our clients deserve a trial,” said Jeanne M. Christensen, one of the class-action attorneys who filed a motion on Thursday fighting Uber’s efforts to push the women into arbitration. “The goal is to force Uber to acknowledge that this is happening and to do something about it.”
The women are “horrified and shocked that this is what happened to them, and they are also horrified that people aren’t talking about it, and that Uber has been fairly successful at keeping it out of the news,” said Christensen.
“Uber has an interest in removing these cases from the public eye,” said Bryant Greening, an attorney with LegalRideshare, which represents Uber riders and drivers. “It’s despicable … It’s a public safety issue and it’s an issue that’s relevant to our community.”12
Of course, Uber executives had a sudden change of heart in regards to the rights of their riders, in the wake of the CNN report. The same day Uber announced an end to forced arbitration for victims of sexual assault, Lyft made the same move.
Not without a warrant you won’t!
On October 24, 2018, New York City Police detectives arrested 25-year-old Narinderjit Singh.
The Lyft driver was captured on a cellphone video exposing himself and masturbating in front of his 14-year-old passenger.
The girl told WABC:
Honestly, I was scared out of my mind, almost in shock, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to say.
I heard, like, his belt unbuckle. And then all of a sudden, I noticed that he was masturbating.
They wouldn’t give us information, which is really frustrating…You feel like the situation’s not going to go anywhere, and someone’s just going to get away with doing such a disgusting thing.13
That’s right, Lyft refused to cooperate with detectives and identify the driver. It took two weeks searching through public databases, using his first name to find Singh. According to Lyft, their stated policy on such matters follows: “We won’t be able to provide any information without a valid subpoena, court order, or search warrant, except where an emergency situation exists involving an immediate threat of death or serious bodily harm to a person.” Singh was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and harassment.
What measures have Uber and Lyft taken to ensure passengers’ safety?
In April 2019, following yet another Uber driver’s arrest for the rape of his passenger in a Boston suburb, Uber announced they were implementing a new program to keep passengers safe.
So, what did they do?
Uber added a page to their website offering a list of ten “safety tips” to riders. The list includes such advice as matching the make and model of the car, along with making sure the driver’s photo matches the driver; wearing your seatbelt; sharing “your trip details with loved ones;” calling 911 “if you ever feel that you’re in an urgent situation;” and being “kind and respectful.”14
So, what did they really do?...Nothing, it appears.
In conclusion, getting into a vehicle with an Uber or Lyft driver is basically hitchhiking, except with a fee charged to your credit card. The rider really has no idea who is driving them, other than a first name, and at least in the case with Lyft, that is all you may ever know, even if that driver rapes you.
Neither company has pledged to stop hiring illegal aliens, nor is there any evidence showing either ridesharing service has intensified the background checks to which they supposedly subject prospective drivers.
In short, call a cab.
Endnotes
1. http://www.whosdrivingyou.org/rideshare-incidents#sexualassaults
2. https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/accused-rideshare-rapist-is-undocumented-immigrant-former-lyft-driver/1306751522
3. https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/05/13/berkeley-uber-driver-accused-kidnapping-intent-rape/
4. https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/lyft-driver-arrested-accused-of-sexually-assaulting-a-passenger/1646847750
5. https://kdvr.com/2018/11/12/teen-victim-mother-speak-out-after-alleged-assault-by-uber-driver/
6. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/uber-driver-charged-kidnapping-groping-woman-new-york-n920941?cid=public-rss_20181016
7. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/illegal-immigrant-uber-driver-gets-19-months-in-prison-for-assaulting-woman-on-capitol-hill
8. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/04/18/illegal-immigrant-uber-driver-raped-passenger-then-fled-to-native-ghana-police-say.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fnational+%28Internal+-+US+Latest+-+Text%29&utm_content=Yahoo+Search+Results
9. http://www.ksby.com/story/37321300/uber-driver-suspected-of-san-luis-obispo-rapes-charged-with-10-felonies
10. http://www.wdtv.com/content/news/Lyft-driver-charged-with-sexual-assault--446443973.html
11. https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/15/technology/uber-eliminates-forced-arbitration/index.html
12. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/15/uber-class-action-lawsuit-sexual-assault-rape-arbitration
13. https://abc7ny.com/exclusive-teen-girl-speaks-out-after-lyft-drivers-lewd-act/4649119/
14. https://www.uber.com/us/en/ride/safety/tips/