Uber Driver Arrested, Accused Of Forcing Himself On Teenage Rider
GOLDEN, Colo. (CBS4)- Jefferson County Sheriff's deputies arrested a 29-year-old Uber driver after they say he forced himself onto a teenage customer Saturday night. Investigators identified the suspect as Ahmed Muse.
The 15-year-old girl told investigators she had a coworker call an Uber for her to go home from her place of work in Golden. The coworker selected uberPool which allows multiple riders share the ride. Those riders are then dropped off according to their destination along the route, Uber's website said.
The girl told Muse she was 15, also a violation of Uber's policy which says you must be 18-years-old to use Uber. If you are under 18, you must have a chaperone riding with you.
Once the girl was picked up, the driver started along the route which included another destination. The girl realized her destination was first and asked to be dropped off first. Muse allegedly refused and drove past her neighborhood to go to the second rider's destination.
The girl says he told her his app wasn't working properly, and he needed to drop off passengers according to the order they were picked up, authorities say.
The sheriff's office says the girl offered him an additional $10 to drop her off first, but he again refused.
"He refused to do that and made her ride along with him. Then, when he got to the destination he grabbed her and kissed her against her will and had locked the doors so she couldn't couldn't get out of the vehicle. " Said Jenny Fulton, Public Information Officer with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
The girl was able to escape.
Investigators identified Muse through the Uber app. He was arrested and taken into custody where he remained Monday night. He faces second degree kidnapping, false imprisonment and harassment charges.
In June, the ride-share company reminded users about new safety features like sharing trip details with trusted contacts and a button to call 911 from within the app.