Uber users are being warned to make sure the driver who picks them up is the same one shown on the app, after an Uber driver allegedly sexually assaulted four female college students in the San Luis Obispo area.
Uber driver Alfonso Alarcon-Nunez, 39, allegedly used Uber’s system to scout potential victims seeking a ride, then would nip in before the selected driver arrived, and make the pickup himself, authorities said.
“He targeted highly intoxicated women returning from parties and downtown San Luis Obispo,” said Sophia Mathews, spokeswoman for the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney.
Three of the women attacked were Cal Poly students and one was a Cuesta College student. Two were 19, one 21 and one 22. The women were assaulted in December and January, with the most recent incident Jan. 14, The Tribune in San Luis Obispo reported.
Alarcon-Nunez is suspected of driving the women to their homes and assaulting them there, Mathews said.
“What police have reported is absolutely horrifying, and something no person should ever have to experience,” an Uber spokesperson said Monday. “We have been working with law enforcement to provide them with information for their investigation, and the driver has been permanently removed from the app.”
Alarcon-Nunez pleaded not guilty on Jan. 22 to 10 charges including raping an intoxicated person and grand theft of personal property. He remains in custody with bail set at nearly $1.5 million, the District Attorney said.
The accused is alleged to have used payment app Venmo to hinder any investigation. Police “initially didn’t realize the four cases were connected,” a representative of the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s office told The Tribune.
Alarcon-Nunez also drove for Uber in Santa Barbara and elsewhere, leading authorities to believe he may have additional victims, Mathews said. Another reported victim has come forward since Alarcon-Nunez was arrested, Mathews said.
“We believe that there are going to be several more out there,” she said.
A Mexican citizen, Alarcon-Nunez was in the U.S. illegally, according to the District Attorney’s office, which highlighted that information in a Jan. 22 media advisory. He had been deported from New Mexico in 2005, Mathews said, adding that he had a California driver’s license, which can be legally obtained by an undocumented immigrant.
Alarcon-Nunez was screened by Uber’s third-party background check provider as per California law, Uber said.
The District Attorney’s office warned users of ride-sharing services to make sure the information from the service matches that of the driver and car that comes for the pickup.
