Prosecutors accuse Boston Uber driver of abducting, raping passenger

Arraignment comes same day as Uber touts its “general commitment to safety.”

Cyrus Farivar – Dec 18, 2014 12:04 pm | 72

A Boston Uber driver has been formally charged by Massachusetts prosecutors with rape, assault to rape, kidnapping, assault, and two counts of battery.

“We allege that this defendant picked up a young woman, presenting himself as the driver for a ride-sharing service, and then drove her to a secluded location where he beat and sexually assaulted her,” Marian Ryan, the Middlesex County district attorney, said in a Wednesday statement. “This alleged predator took advantage of a young woman who trusted that he was who he portrayed himself to be and exploited her vulnerability once he had her in his car.”

The company did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment.

UPDATE 7:05pm CT: Kaitlin Durkosh, an Uber spokeswoman, told Ars that the company has been “been working closely with law enforcement and will continue to do everything we can to assist their investigation,” and called the crime “despicable.”

According to prosecutors, after picking up his fare on December 6, defendant Alejandro Done told his passenger that she needed to pay him in cash, and she asked to stop at an ATM. The prosecutors allege that:

[Done] then drove to a location that the passenger was not familiar with, pulled over in a secluded area and jumped in the backseat where she was sitting. He allegedly struck her with his hands, strangled her, locked the car doors so that she could not escape and covered her mouth so she could not scream. During an ensuing physical struggle, the defendant allegedly sexually assaulted the woman.

In a Wednesday blog post, the company outlined a “general commitment to safety,” noting that in November 2014 it had undertaken a “global review to assess the areas where greater investment is required.”

The quasi-taxi startup has faced a slew of bad news in recent weeks. During the Sydney hostage crisis, the company’s surge pricing algorithm kicked prices up to four times the normal rates with an $82 minimum charge—before the company rescinded it and gave refunds and free rides.

Earlier this month, a now-former Uber driver in San Francisco was charged with vehicular manslaughter over the death of a six-year-old girl nearly a year earlier. On the same day, the Los Angeles and San Francisco district attorneys jointly filed a civil lawsuit in San Francisco against Uber “for making false and misleading statements to consumers.”

The day before, Uber was banned from New Delhi in the wake of rape allegations against a driver.