Lansdale Uber driver faces rape charge
Chester County case alleges woman assaulted after passing out
WEST CHESTER >> The national concern over whether ride sharing passengers are in danger of criminal attacks will play itself out in a Common Pleas courtroom this week, as a Lansdale man goes on trial for sexually assaulting a Chester County woman while he was working as an Uber driver.
A jury of eight women and four men hearing the case of defendant Ahmed Mostafa Elgaafary was chosen by the two sides before Judge Patrick Carmody, with none of the prospective panelists saying during selection that they had had any negative interactions with Uber drivers — and with some saying they had either worked for the service, had signed up to do so, or had relatives who had been drivers in the past.
Elgaafary is charged with rape of an unconscious person, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, and indecent assault. If convicted, he faces a possible term in state prison.
The allegations against Elgaafary, which he denies, are that he picked up a woman who had been gambling and drinking at the Valley Forge Casino in Upper Merion, and assaulted her after she passed out in the back of his car.
Police said in a criminal complaint that they were able to match his DNA with samples taken from the woman during a physical examination the morning after the alleged assault.
Elgaafary was arrested last fall, several months after the woman, a resident of Charlestown, reported her case to police.
The woman told investigators that she had been at the casino and was drinking heavily the night of Feb. 9 and into Feb. 10, 2018, She called for an Uber ride to take her home and was picked
up at about 2:20 a.m. She said she did not remember anything about the ride home, and woke up in her home that morning nauseous and with a “bad feeling that something may have happened.”
She had bruises on her
legs and forehead, and dirt under her fingernails. She was also dressed only in a bra when she woke up.
Checking the Uber applications, the woman saw that the ride had lasted approximately 58 minutes, when the normal travel time between the casino and her home in Charlestown is about 15 minutes. She was taken to Pottstown Hospital, where a
sexual assault examination was conducted, including swabs for DNA.
State Trooper Amos Glick, a seven-year veteran of the state police assigned to the Lancaster barracks, was able to identify Elgaafary as the Uber driver who had picked her up the night of Feb. 10. According to a criminal complaint, the Egyptian national appeared for an interview
on March 2, and said he remembered picking the woman up, and noticing that she appeared intoxicated. He said she vomited multiple times during the ride, but denied having any sexual contact with her. He voluntarily agreed to provide Glick with a sample of his DNA.
When Glick later received the results of the examination, he said the state police forensic lab had detected evidence of sperm on the victim. A DNA analysis of that positively identified his DNA in the examination results, allegedly confirming that he had had sex with the woman.
Elgaafary was arrested on Oct. 31, and charged with rape of an unconscious person, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, and indecent assault.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Vince Cocco and Alexis Shaw. Elgaafary is represented by West Chester attorneys Jonathan Altman and Melissa McCafferty.