US Woman Claims She Was Tricked, Kidnapped By Uber Driver: “Woke Up Naked”

The woman was visiting from California with her two male friends.

A US woman has claimed that an Uber driver misled her into believing that he was her ride before taking her to a motel in Florida, where she “woke up naked” with no recollection of how she got there. An investigation is underway to find out if the same driver has assaulted other women, as per a report in the New York Post.

She was visiting from California with her two male friends. The group left their Airbnb in Miami Beach and went to a bar, according to the affidavit. One of the male friends ordered an Uber to take them to their Airbnb. The car was described as a grey Honda HR-V. 

The CCTV footage, viewed by police, showed the victim with one of her friends in front of the Old City Hall in Miami Beach. She who was dressed in dark colours at the time, was also seen in the video getting into a grey Chevrolet Traverse and leaving, as per CBS News.

The affidavit purportedly stated that the driver Danny Maurad-Avecillas, 49, drove her to Motel 77, over 20 minutes away rather than to her Airbnb, which was only a few minutes away. “He made me believe that was my Uber and said, ‘Get in the car, get in the car,’ and that’s it. It looked exactly like the car that I was waiting for,” the woman said.

The affidavit claims that Avecillas, who is thought to be a registered Uber driver, used the victim’s credit card to pay for the hourly stay as well as to fill up his fuel tank on the route to the motel. The victim “woke up naked” a few hours later, her memory of how she got there and what happened to her completely gone. Police suggested she might have been raped. 

According to the victim’s testimony in court, the incident caused her physical injuries. She said, “I have bodily injuries. I don’t know what they did to me but like I have bruises. Right now, I’m going through like knee injuries that I might need a surgery for.”

The Miami Police Department said that the “investigation involves a ride-share driver using a ‘silver or black SUV’ who is suspected of targeting women in the evening hours, waiting for their ride-share, luring them in, intoxicating, robbing and possibly sexually assaulting them.”

It is to be noted that earlier this month, Danny Maurad-Avecillas was taken into custody and charged with two counts of credit card fraud and one count of fraudulent possession of identification. There are now fresh claims of sexual assault against him.

Uber informed that Maurad-Avecillas’ licence had been revoked and referred to the charges against him as “sickening.” “There are no words to describe this sickening behaviour. We removed the driver’s access as soon as this was reported to us and are supporting law enforcement with their investigation,” a spokesperson for the company added.