A South Florida Uber driver was detained after police say he made sexually suggestive comments and inappropriately touched a 15-year-old girl during a ride she requested through the Uber Teens app.
“You were arrested for lewd and lascivious conduct on a child,” said Judge Mindy S. Glazer.
Jose Miguel Perez-Molina appeared before Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy S. Glazer late Wednesday morning. The 39-year-old was charged with lewd and lascivious conduct with a child younger than 16, according to a Sunny Isles Beach Police arrest report.
According to investigators, the teen ordered an Uber on Sunday afternoon from an Aventura salon to a friend’s home in Sunny Isles Beach. According to the complaint, she was picked up by a driver named in the app as “Jose,” who looked like Perez-Molina and drove a Toyota Corolla.
According to the investigation, Perez-Molina frequently asked the victim if she had a boyfriend, referred to her as “pretty,” and questioned her age while driving. When she told him she was 15, he responded that it was “a problem” because he was 39, according to the investigation.
According to police, Perez-Molina stopped in a plaza on Collins Avenue as the adolescent was attempting to locate the correct address.
While parked, he allegedly turned around and touched her knee, cheek, and a scab on her arm, assuring her he could “take care of” her. The teen told detectives that the touching was unwanted.
According to the report, Perez-Molina also proposed that they park somewhere so he could “teach [her] how to kiss.” The girl claimed she constantly told him she was just 15 and declined.
Fearing that the situation would escalate, the victim recorded part of the interaction on her phone. According to police, the audio captured Perez-Molina making comments about kissing her and waiting for her, despite her age.
According to the report, the teen ran from the vehicle in tears when she arrived at her destination and promptly informed a friend and her parents, who called police.
Sunny Isles Beach Police officers then gave the victim a photo lineup, and she recognized the suspect “without hesitation,” according to the report.
License plate reader hits also placed Perez-Molina’s vehicle in the area at the time of the incident.
Uber released a statement that reads in part:
“What this rider experienced is deeply disturbing… We take reports like this very seriously. We removed the driver’s access to the app as soon as this was reported…”
Perez-Molina was detained and taken to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in West Miami-Dade.
Glazer handed a stay-away order to the suspect in court on Wednesday, ordering him not to contact the victim.
Perez-Molina was issued a $7,500 bond and has an immigration hold.
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