Syracuse police arrested 34-year-old Ibrahim M. Aden after he was accused by a Syracuse University student of sexual assault while driving an Uber car in September 2017, and a 22-year-old passenger in a taxi he drove in October 2017.
Aden was arrested on Thursday and with second-degree unlawful imprisonment while driving for Uber, and second-degree harassment and first-degree sexual abuse while driving the Taxi.
The first case starts on Sept. 17th at around 2:30am, an SU student aged 18 told police that she had requested a ride from the Uber app, and she told the driver to take her home from Ostrum Avenue. While being driven home, the driver would turn around and stroke the young student's legs and make lewd comments. The driver then pulled into a secluded parking area and continued to fondle her. The victim managed to escape the vehicle and ran home, where she called the police. An SU parent that heard of the incident posted it on Facebook and it was shared nearly a thousand times before it was deleted. During the investigation, Uber deactivated the drivers access to their app and cooperated with local law enforcement.
He second case happened after Aden lost his access to Uber and got employment as a Yellow Taxi driver. It was during his tenure as a yellow cab driver that his next victim, a 22-year-old passenger was walking on 1200 block of West Lafayette Street when a yellow cab stopped by her and offered her a ride home, enticing her to accept by suggesting that the ride was free since he was going her way.
In this instance, the passenger sat next to the driver, and her hand was taken by the driver and forced onto his crotch, which was unzipped at the time. The victim told the driver to stop the car, and she managed to escape and ran home where she called the police.
Based on the second victim's report, Syracuse Police Department Abused Persons and detectives managed to link the two incidents which led to an investigation and interviewing of several witnesses. The investigation successfully led the team to Aden.