Dallas Police Department

Woman Assaulted by Driver After Requesting Drive Home From Uptown Dallas: Police

Dallas police ask for help identifying man recorded on surveillance video

Dallas police need help identifying a man they say sexually assaulted a woman Saturday after she used an app-based service to request a ride home.

During a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Maj. Max Geron, with the Violent Crimes Unit of the Dallas Police Department, said the woman used an unspecified app-based service in the early-morning hours of Nov. 7 to arrange for a ride home from the 2900 block of McKinney Avenue.

At about 3 a.m., a man pulls up in a black, late-model Chevrolet Tahoe and the woman got inside, police said.

Geron said when the woman realized she was not being driven to her destination she demanded to be let out of the vehicle, but that the man instead drove to an unknown location where he sexually assaulted her.

Police said between 3:30 a.m. and 4 a.m. Saturday the man dropped the woman off at a Shell gas station on the 4100 block of North Central Expressway, where she immediately called 911 to report the assault. That part of the incident, police said, was recorded on surveillance video.

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Dallas police need help identifying the driver of this SUV in relation to a sexual assault case that occurred on Nov. 7, 2015.

At some point the woman canceled the initial request she made for the ride, police said, but that investigators had not yet determined if that was done before or after she entered the man's SUV on McKinney Avenue. Additionally, Geron said at this point in the investigation police have not been able to confirm whether the man worked for an app-based service or if he was someone posing as an employee of an app-based service.

"I'm also aware that it's a practice for some individuals, whether they are affiliated with those app-based services or not, to provide rides for cash," Geron said. "Absolutely, without blaming the victim in any regard whatsoever, we caution the public that if they're going to take a ride from an app-based service, or taxicab or otherwise, that they verify that they are taking a ride with a reputable corporation or reputable entity."

Dallas police said they are releasing the surveillance footage, edited to protect the victim's identity, with the hope that someone may recognize the man driving the SUV. Police did not have a detailed description, but said the man appeared to be in his 30s, of an average weight and height and that while his ethnicity was undetermined, he appeared to be either white, Hispanic or Middle Eastern.

Police released no further information in the case, including any detail of what may have been said between the woman and man before she entered his vehicle.

Anyone with information on the man's identity is asked to contact the Dallas Police Department's Sexual Assault Unit at 214-671-3584.

Dallas police need help identifying a man they say sexually assaulted a woman Saturday after she used an app-based service to request a ride home.
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