Baltimore police are investigating a woman's claim that she was abducted and sexually assaulted by her Uber driver

Reuters/Andrew Kelly

Uber went public in May, netting a valuation of more than $70 billion.

• Police in Baltimore, Maryland, are investigating a claim that a 25-year-old passenger was raped by an Uber driver.
• Investigators have not yet named the suspect. Police said the passenger's father was able to track the location of her phone and called 911.
• Uber said its assisting with the investigation and has fired the driver.

Authorities in Baltimore County, Maryland are investigating a claim that a 25-year-old passenger was raped by an Uber driver.

The victim's father was able to track his daughter's phone and was eventually able to rescue her before calling 911, Shawn Vinson, director of public affairs for the county police, told reporters. The incident is being treated as a rape investigation, he said.

"This started when a call came for the daughter to be transported in an Uber, when she didn't arrive at her destination, the father started to become concerned and was able to use an app on her phone and his phone to locate where she was," Vinson told reporters

"Right now we are actively investigating this case trying to determine what exactly happened here," he continued. We want to continue to work with the victim and eventually interview everyone who was involved in this and to see what we have. Right now we are handling it as a rape investigation, but we're trying to determine what exactly happened inside the car."

Uber said its assisting with the investigation and has fired the driver.

"What's been reported is appalling beyond words," a company spokesperson said. "We removed the driver from the app as soon as this was reported to us. We will work with police on their investigation."

While Uber performs background checks on all drivers before they are able to give rides, enough safety incidents have occurred to prompt the company to add safety features. Last year, Uber added the ability to set trusted contacts within the app that allow riders to share their location and ride details, as well as the ability to direct dial emergency services.

In 2018, a CNN investigation revealed 103 Uber drivers had been accused of sexual assault in the prior four years. This year, a convicted war criminal slipped through the cracks at Uber's third-party background check service, and was later fired by the company.

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