Police say Uber driver interrupted ride to rape sleeping passenger

An Uber operator is accused of raping a pistillate rider who fell dormant successful his vehicle, according to Las Vegas police.

Logs provided to constabulary by the ride-sharing work amusement the driver, Dawed Mekonene, 30, canceled the 6-mile thrust connected Tuesday from the Strip to an flat analyzable successful the southbound vale portion it was successful progress, past restarted it 22 minutes aboriginal and delivered the pistillate to her destination.

When officers questioned him astir the gap, Mekonene “attempted to deflect the question” arsenic his limb “started to shingle precise fast,” his apprehension study said.

He subsequently asked for a lawyer, cutting disconnected further questioning, constabulary said.

Las Vegas Justice Court logs bash not amusement an lawyer for Mekonene.

Mekonene was booked Tuesday into the Clark County Detention Center connected 2 counts of intersexual battle and 1 number each of artillery by strangulation to perpetrate intersexual battle and kidnapping.

Clark County prosecutors declined to prosecute the kidnapping charge, tribunal logs show.

Bail was acceptable astatine $200,000, though it was not wide if Mekonene had posted it.

He is adjacent owed successful tribunal connected Dec. 30.

The out-of-state visitant told investigators that she fell dormant 5 minutes into the thrust and woke up with the operator sexually assaulting her successful the backmost seat, constabulary said.

Ignoring her pleas to stop, she said the operator strangled her into unconsciousness and continued raping her, according to the apprehension report.

The operator past restarted the fare, took her to her destination, pulled her retired of the car and threw her apparel and different belongings astatine her, the study said.

The pistillate ran to the building’s beforehand table and asked for help, constabulary said.

Police utilized Uber records to place the operator arsenic Mekonene, and recovered flat surveillance footage that showed the pistillate being dropped off, the study said.

Mekonene archetypal told investigators that the pistillate was “intoxicated” and asleep, but past changed his communicative to accidental she was awake and speaking connected the phone, constabulary said.

He said helium had been driving for Uber and Lyft for six months, the study said. Police urged imaginable further victims to telephone Metro astatine 702-828-3421.

“The details described by the rider are horrific, and we instantly deactivated the driver,” an Uber spokesperson said via email. “We are moving with instrumentality enforcement connected their investigation.”

The company’s website says that yearly inheritance checks are conducted connected its drivers to cheque for transgression and driving histories and “uses exertion to look for issues successful between” the regular checks.

Uber besides allows users of its app to study information concerns to section instrumentality enforcement.

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez astatine rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Follow him connected Twitter @rickytwrites.