A Florida man was arrested on Sunday after he allegedly posed as an Uber driver and raped an Alabama teen who was on spring break, according to police.
The 18-year-old unidentified victim was in Fort Lauderdale for spring break. The teen was at a restaurant with friends on Saturday night but was separated from the group, according to a police report obtained the Daily Caller. The teen requested an Uber to take her back to where she was staying.
The victim approached a white vehicle which she thought was the Uber, according to the police report. The victim asked the driver if he was her Uber, to which he responded “yes,” police said.
The driver, 37-year-old Shapsly Silencieux, allegedly went along, telling the teen he would take her home and that he was her Uber driver, according to the police report.
A man who picked up a woman, who she thought he was an Uber driver, is accused of sexually battering her. https://t.co/QcUuCyqks6
— CBS4 Miami (@CBSMiami) March 15, 2021
The teen then received a cancellation notification from Uber and a $100 charge, according to the police report. She confronted Silencieux and said he was not her driver, to which he allegedly replied “I’m driving you home.”
While on the route, Silencieux allegedly told the victim he needed to stop at his apartment to get his wallet so he could pay for gas, according to the report. (RELATED: San Francisco Uber Driver Shares Wild Video Of Attack By Maskless Rider Who Snags His Phone, Rips Off His Mask)
Once at his apartment, the victim asked Silencieux if she could use his bathroom, according to the police report. Once the victim exited the bathroom, Silencieux assaulted her.
“But when she comes out of the restroom is when he forced her into a bedroom and committed the sexual battery,” Fort Lauderdale Police Sgt. DeAnna Greenlaw said, according to WSVN. “Detectives are told that this victim knew that something was wrong. She attempted everything in her power to prevent the suspect from doing what he did.”
The victim fought off Silencieux, allegedly biting him before she began to cry until he allegedly stopped. The victim said the suspect then drove her to her destination after he took her phone when she tried to summon another Uber, according to the police report. Police managed to catch the suspect because the teen memorized his license plate, according to the report.
Silencieux was booked in jail and held on a $50,000 bond, according to NBC Miami. Uber said that while Silencieux was not a registered driver, he would not be allowed to ever register for the company, Local 10 News reported.
“Everyone has the right to travel safely and our thoughts are with the victim after this horrific experience. While this trip did not take place on the Uber app, we immediately removed the driver’s access to the app as this was reported to us,” Uber said in a statement, according to Local 10 News.