Driver in Fremont charged with raping passenger
A Lyft driver accused of raping a woman at his home after giving her a ride is now facing three felony charges of sexual assault, Fremont police said Wednesday.
Detectives said 24year-old Jaswanthreddy Baireddy of Fremont took advantage of an intoxicated customer last month by driving her back to his residence instead of her own and assaulting her while she was unconscious.
Lyft said it deactivated Baireddy from the company’s services immediately after it was made aware of the allegations.
“These allegations are deeply disturbing,” Kate Margolis, a company spokeswoman, told The Chronicle in an email. “The safety of the Lyft community is our No. 1 priority, and we have absolutely zero tolerance for this behavior on the platform.”
Lyft has been in contact with the passenger and authorities to support the investigation, Margolis said.
Baireddy was arrested May 1, and three days later the Alameda County district attorney’s office charged him with forced oral copulation where victim is unconscious, forced digital penetration where victim is prevented from resisting due to intoxicating substance, and rape by means where victim is unconscious.
Police said on April 8, a 29-year-old woman hailed a Lyft to take her from Oakland to a friend’s address in Berkeley. The friend was not there, and Baireddy reportedly told the rider that he was off duty and would give her a ride to her residence.
Baireddy then drove past her exit on the freeway and “expressed a desire to go home,” according to police. He reportedly told the woman to rest while he got her food and stopped at a fast-food restaurant before driving her to his residence on the 38000 block of Camden Street in Fremont.
The woman said Baireddy offered her marijuana and directed her upstairs before suggesting she lie down because he was too tired to drive. Baireddy then sexually assaulted her before driving her home, authorities said.
Police said Baireddy made incriminating statements during his interview with detectives.
“He made comments to suggest that he was never with her, but during the interview process acknowledged that he was not being truthful,” Fremont detective Calvin Tang said.
Sexual assault allegations against ride-hailing drivers have made national headlines, Tang said, but Baireddy’s case is the first he’s seen locally.
Baireddy is currently being held without bail. His next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
While there is no publicly available data on how many sexual-assault allegations are made against ride-hailing drivers, a recent CNN investigation found that at least 103 Uber drivers have been accused of sexual assault or abuse of their passengers in the past four years.
Baireddy’s criminal charges were announced a day after Lyft announced an about-face in the way it handles civil sexual misconduct complaints made by passengers and drivers.
On Tuesday, Lyft said the company would no longer require sexual assault and harassment complaints to be heard in private arbitration, meaning accusers can now share their claims in open courtrooms if they choose.