Father finds Uber driver 'raping his daughter' at side of road

'What’s been reported is appalling beyond words'

(EPA)

An Uber driver has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman who called for a ride, before fleeing the scene after the victim’s father caught him using a location tracking service.

The incident is being investigated by the Baltimore County police as a second-degree rape.

A police report indicates that the alleged sexual assault occurred in the Mays Chapel area of Maryland, due north of the City of Baltimore. The father reportedly found the vehicle parked at the side of the road at about 11.30pm on Saturday night, with the driver and his daughter in the back seat.

The driver then threw the woman’s pocketbook at the father, and fled the scene.

“When he went up and knocked on the car, he observed the driver and the victim in the back seat of the car,” Shawn Vinson, a spokesperson with the Baltimore County police department, told local news channel WBAL-TV. “There were words exchanged between the victim’s father and the Uber driver. The Uber driver then got into the front seat of the vehicle and drove off.”

The suspect’s identity is known to police, but has not been made public.

“What’s been reported is appalling beyond words,” an Uber spokesperson told the Baltimore Sun. “We removed the driver from the app as soon as this was reported to us. We will work with police on their investigation.”

The incident highlights previous criticism that has been directed at the company, which has seen more than 100 drivers accused of sexual assault or abuse over the past four years, according to a CNN investigation last year.

The company has pledged to make data on sexual assaults later this year, but has not committed to a date for that release.

They have also implemented new safety features.