Uber Driver Charged With Assaulting Woman In Union City
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- An Uber driver from San Francisco is accused of picking up a woman while off-duty and sexually assaulting her, police said Thursday.
Kevin Barillas-Saballas, 30, was charged Thursday by the Alameda County district attorney's office with sexual assault, sexual battery, kidnapping, imprisonment and criminal threats.
Union City Police Lt. Steve Mendez said the woman was intoxicated when either she or her friends called for an Uber on July 14 to take her home to Union City.
Mendez said her driver was not Barillas-Saballas, but he picked her up and subsequently attacked her. Police did not release details of the attack.
Uber spokesman Andrew Hasbun said the company is working with police and immediately removed the driver from its app once informed.
Hasbun called the police account of what happened "disturbing" and urged Uber users to make sure a driver's name, license plate and car type match those of their expected driver before getting into a car. Riders should also ask the driver whom they are picking up.
"If the driver can't identify your name, do not get in," Hasbun said in a statement.
Barillas-Saballas was being held on $270,000 bail. It could not immediately be determined if he has an attorney.
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