Trial opens in case of Uber driver accused of raping passenger

A New York City woman testified Monday her Uber ride home from a SunFest concert last year turned terrifying when the driver forced her to perform sex acts in the car.

He then raped her after they arrived at her Jupiter condo.

“He says, ‘I have a gun under my seat’ and says ‘if you don’t do what I want you to do, I’ll shoot you,” said the woman, called as the first witness in the trial of Gary Kitchings, 58.

Kitchings, held in Palm Beach County Jail since his May 8 arrest, denies forcing any sex acts in his 2016 Nissan Versa while she sat in his front passenger seat.

He is charged with four counts of sexual battery with a deadly weapon or physical force, one count of burglary with assault or battery, and false imprisonment.

A former longtime foster care provider, Kitchings also claims the encounter at her home was consensual, with his lawyer calling it a “one night stand.”

The woman told the jury that when the ride began, she and two other passengers had a friendly chat about the 3 Doors Down concert that night at the West Palm Beach festival.

But after the other riders were dropped off in Palm Beach Gardens, Kitchings called her “sexy” and began making her “very nervous,” she said. He then unzipped his pants and began forcibly touching her between her legs, she said.

She testified she followed her attacker’s commands to perform oral sex during the Uber ride.

“I didn’t see any other way out,” said the 38-year-old woman, who told the jury she owns an Internet-based skin care products company.

Because of the nature of the allegations, the South Florida Sun Sentinel is not naming her.

The accuser said after Kitchings parked in front of her condo building, she ran to the front door and then screamed as he forced his way inside and ordered her to a bedroom.

“If you don’t do what I tell you to do I will kill you and your dogs,” Kitchings ordered the woman, according to her account for the jury.

He ripped off her pantyhose and forced sexual intercourse as well as oral sex on her bed, she testified, adding that she never saw a gun.

“I just can’t believe this is happening,” she recalled of the rape. “I’m thinking maybe he will kill me after all of this.”

But she said Kitchings left her home and she ran into a bathroom, locked the door, and called 911. The jury listened to a recording of the call.

“I’ve been raped,” she told the 911 operator, audibly crying. “His name is Gary.”

Assistant Public Defender Raquel Tortora said the jury will hear Kitchings’ side of the story later in the trial.

In her opening statement Monday, Tortora said there’s no evidence that any sex acts took place during the Uber ride. She said it was the woman who initiated the contact by touching Kitchings when he was driving and inviting him inside her condo.

“They have, for lack of a better term, a one-night stand,” the defense attorney said, explaining it is the reason Kitchings’ DNA was found on the woman. “He does not do anything she does not want to happen.”

In a statement to Jupiter police detectives, Kitchings accused the woman of lying, and described the episode as “fun” and a “Friday night fling” in which he cheated on his wife.

After Kitchings’ arrest, Uber removed him as a driver, and he also lost his job as a “house parent” at a foster home facility in suburban West Palm Beach.Kitchings is charged with four counts of sexual battery with a deadly weapon or physical force, one count of burglary with assault or battery, and false imprisonment.

The trial before Chief Circuit Judge Krista Marx will continue Tuesday with the cross-examination of the woman.

Kitchings