A rideshare driver in Montgomery County has been accused of raping and kidnapping a teenage girl.
Montgomery County police stated in court documents that the victim is a 17-year-old girl. According to the documents, she was at a friend’s residence in Silver Spring on Monday and used her phone’s Empower app to book a rideshare driver.
Investigators think Abdoulaye Dia, 36, a rideshare driver from Lanham, “appeared to purposefully drive past the direction to her residence,” “stopped the vehicle in a parking lot,” and raped the youngster.
Dia now faces charges of first-degree rape and kidnapping. According to Montgomery County Police spokesman Shiera Goff, based on the circumstances and how things unfolded, [investigators] are concerned that he may have done or attempted to do this previously.
According to court filings, Empower was ordered to cease and desist operations in Maryland in July. That verdict has subsequently been appealed and is now pending.
Part of the rationale for the cease-and-desist is that the state claims “the failure of Empower to monitor the criminal and driving records of Empower’s drivers creates a serious risk to public safety.” Montgomery County investigators stated that Dia was charged in New York with criminal crimes, including sexual abuse of a minor, in June of this year.
Dia is being held without a bond. The public defender’s office declined to comment on his behalf.
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