23-year-old Rosemont woman sues Uber after alleged roadside abandonment results in sexual assault
By Peyton Headlee
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SACRAMENTO, California (KCRA) — A Sacramento County woman is suing Uber, alleging she was sexually assaulted after her driver left her on the side of the road for vomiting in the car.
The 23-year-old woman, identified only as Jane Doe, had been with her brother and a friend at Ace of Spades for a concert on the evening of May 28.
“It was a nice concert. I was drinking. We all were. And then I got too drunk at some point in the night, and I called myself an Uber,” she said.
The ride back to her Rosemont home ended prematurely when the driver allegedly forced her out of the vehicle for vomiting, leaving her eight miles from home near Alhambra Boulevard and Broadway just after 10 p.m.
“My Uber driver let me out for vomiting in the vehicle, which caused everything else to happen,” she said. “He left me there without my keys or my phone, so I wasn’t sure what to do at the time.”
She said she began looking for help at a nearby gas station when a man and a woman offered to take her home.
“I asked them for help. That was the wrong decision. I was taken to one of their apartments. I was threatened at knifepoint, sexually assaulted, and the next morning, thankfully, I was able to escape out of a window,” she said.
The lawsuit alleges the man violently assaulted her numerous times and forced her to take drugs.
Terrified and hurt, she said she ran to a nearby school and called for help the next morning. She was then taken to a hospital and interviewed by authorities.
“I was fully expecting that I wouldn’t make it out of it alive. I was lucky that I was able to escape, but none of that would have happened if I didn’t call that Uber,” she said.
Uber did not respond to questions about their protocols for drivers after their passenger becomes sick, but sent this statement to KCRA 3:
“What this individual experienced is heartbreaking, and our thoughts are with them. While we cannot comment on pending litigation, we are committed to the safety and well-being of everyone who uses the Uber platform.”
The victim said she hopes her story serves as a warning to others.
“If they’re going to advertise being a company for helping people get to a destination safely, especially to people who are intoxicated and don’t know what is going on, then that should be something that they make sure is possible consistently,” she said. “I miss the person that I was before this happened.”
The lawsuit alleges that situations involving riders getting sick after drinking are common for Uber, which has a policy to charge passengers for clean-up costs.
The victim said she would have paid any charge to avoid the trauma she experienced.
Sacramento Police said they are investigating the case but are not able to release any information about the suspects.
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