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Women sexually attacked after getting into vehicles they thought were from a ride-share company
By adamg on Mon, 03/21/2016 - 8:10am
Boston Police report they are investigating two incidents early Sunday involving attacks on women who thought they were getting into cars hailed from ride-share companies that may have actually been driven by men looking for women to attack.
Shortly before 3 a.m., a woman reported to police that after calling a ride-share company from Lansdowne Street, a car showed up, she thought it was from the company and she got in:
Upon getting into the car, the driver stated that he was not her driver but he would drive her anywhere she needed to go. According to the victim, the driver asked the victim to sit up front. During the course of the ride, the victim states that the suspect indecently assaulted her. The victim describes the suspect as a black male in his late twenties to early thirties, short hair, clean cut, thin build, wearing a black sweater and khaki pants. Victim further states that the suspect spoke with an accent.
Around the same time, police say, another woman was attacked after getting into what she thought was a ride-share SUV at 2 Center Plaza downtown.
Shortly after 3 a.m., a woman got into a small black SUV outside 2 Center Plaza downtown after calling an unnamed ride-share company. The guy also made her sit up front, then sexually attacked her when they got to Mission Hill, police say.
At present, detectives are still trying to determine if the drivers in question were affiliated with the rideshare services summoned. Preliminary info indicates the victims may have inadvertently entered vehicles not affiliated with legitimate rideshare services in Boston.
Police add:
Rideshare services always send a confirmation text to riders with a photo of their driver, the license plate number of their vehicle and a description of the vehicle so you know who and what to look for.
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Comments
I know blaming the victim is
I know blaming the victim is absurd and what happened to these girls is horrible, but I think everyone would benefit from a little reminder, or "re-eduation" as we call it, that you shouldn't get into a strangers car at 3am and let them drive you around. No matter how drunk you are.
I understand your thoughts here.
Rock and hard place. Putting myself in her shoes though I'm wondering if he had already taken off from her pick up spot before disclosing he wasn't her Uber. 3AM...in a car with a stranger or on the streets. What to do? What to do? It's gotta be hard to call sometimes for the ladies.
Too bad the guy was a predator.
Gee, I'm not pointing fingers
Gee, I'm not pointing fingers or anything, but you shouldn't drive around at 3 am looking for women to assault in your car after lying to them in order to get them inside the vehicle.
It is NOT THESE WOMEN'S FAULT that the drivers assaulted them. I don't care what time it was, what they were wearing, or if they were drunk. The drivers consciously decided to commit these acts, planned it out, and did it. The women did nothing to provoke the attacks. Nothing.
Partly in opposite of what's stated in the article
So, in at least one of the two cases, the driver didn't lie to the woman when she got in. He told her she was in the wrong vehicle. She chose to go with him anyways. Doesn't make the assault her fault at all. But you have to be more honest about the situations.
We also only have one side of the story. Probably the more important side, and these seem like cookie-cutter situations but we have no idea what the discussion was in the vehicle, what the women did or didn't agree to up until they were assaulted and got out of the vehicles. If they were not in their requested rideshares, then they'd have to pay cash if the driver said he'd still charge them for the ride. They may not have had any cash because they were expecting to use the rideshare app to pay and agreed to some other form of payment that they later regretted. We have NO IDEA because we weren't there. I'm just saying that you can't rule out scenarios in which the driver thought there was consent. They're far less plausible than the driver being a criminal deviant. That's an easier and more likely scenario...but we don't have enough evidence ourselves. That's why it's an investigation and I'm sure the police would like to speak with the two drivers and likely end up arresting them.
For too long in the past, sexual assault and rape have given the assaulter or rapist the benefit of the doubt. But we can't let the pendulum swing the other way and always assume their guilt before ascertaining more information either.
So that first night of no
So that first night of no late-night T service worked out great, huh?
front-mounted license plate laws in MA ...
... are great for protection against this sort of thing.
Uber sends you the license plate, car description and a picture of the driver. The ability to do a plate check is super quick in situations where the plate is front-mounted and you are looking for your ride. I take UberX a *ton* in cities outside of Boston and it's always awkward when I walk to the back of the car to check the plate value.
Another good tip is to see if the driver knows your first name without a prompt. They'll have that info on their screen if they are legit and have been sent to pick you up. I've done that in situations where I could not clearly see the plates on the car.
Uber
Uber sent out an email prior to St Patrick's Day with safety tips. I have since deleted it, but it did reference asking for names.
I ALWAYS check the name
I ALWAYS check the name before they get in my car. You often have situations, especially on Saturday nights, where multiple parties will call for Ubers at the same time and it's easy to get confused.
I'm an Uber driver. We (me
I'm an Uber driver. We (me and the rider) always verify each others identities before anyone gets in my car. Although I could see how this could happen if the rider was really drunk. Outside certain clubs and bars at certain times of night, when you have a bunch of people who have called Ubers and they are all lining up waiting for a pickup, people go from car to car looking for their driver. When I was driving on St. Patricks Day, this one guy staggered toward my car holding his phone, and I repeatedly asked him if he was the name of the rider I was supposed to pick up, to which he wouldn't answer, just kept staring in my window and holding out his phone, then tried to get in the backseat. At the same time, the actual rider got into the backseat on the other side, told me who he was, and shooed the drunk guy away.
I hate that incidents like this are giving ridesharing services and drivers a bad name. I am a female driver and my experiences with riders thus far have been, unexpectedly, completely positive and safe, and all of my riders have been great, even when they're drunk. I actually am happy to pick up women at night even when they might get sick in my car because I know they are safer in my car than walking home. The system is set up in such a way that if it is used correctly, safety is assured for both parties. I tell my riders that I would never drive a cab because of safety concerns, but with the Uber app you'd have to be an idiot to victimize me because I have all of your details and GPS locations and so does Uber, and same with riders. I guess it doesn't prevent people from posing as Uber drivers, which is why drivers are supposed to always verify the license number of the car they are getting into, and the name of the driver. I don't know how you can prevent it if the person is inebriated and not capable of making these decisions, but I have also been lucky that there is usually a more sober friend in the car with the drunk friend to do the verifications and keep the rider under control. Overall I still think it is just as safe for riders as getting in a cab - cab drivers do the same exact background checks - and even safer to drive for Uber than a cab company.
Gypsy Cabs
"Gypsy" cabs are nothing new, nor do they have to do with Uber.
Uber isn't the problem. The lack of transportation options into and out of and around the city is the problem. So long as we have Marty the Boob Walsh and his BosVegas fascination going on, and Charlie Kochbaker in the state house, this will never ever change.
.
Cab drivers don't work for a "company" in Boston.
We have a bullet proof partition so we don't have to discriminate again people who might look sketchy.
Cab drivers do this for a living, full time. They just your business, and not to assault you. This has never been an issue with cabbies.
Never get into a car you didn't order, or a cab with no meter.
That being said, cabs are safer, and anyone working on the street, please be safe!
You're an angel Lyndsay but
I'd have to draw the line at cleaning up some drunken rider's dreadful sick! :-0
Blowing through a stop sign
...and so she got out of the car and got home safely.
Also, why "ride sharing" is a bullshit attempt to escape critical regulations like putting identifying marks on the vehicle including a badge and driver ID in the passenger area in every cab by law.
We continue to just coexist with these attempts to circumvent the good regulations (with this as the outcome) just because the corruption and dumb regulations remain the actual issue.
The answer is to fix the regulations and remove the corruption, not go laissez faire and pray everyone gets home safely.