Did Danny Maurad-Avecillas pretend Uber driver sexually assault a female victim after tricking her into believing he was her rideshare driver only for woman to wake up hours later naked at a Miami Beach area motel?
A Florida rideshare driver is accused of picking up a California tourist he wasn’t assigned to in Miami Beach before bringing her to a motel against her own will, where the woman hours later under a haze of fog found herself waking up naked.
The victim says Danny Maurad-Avecillas posed as her Uber driver, telling the woman to ‘get in, get in,’ when she inquired if he was her app driver, who a friend of hers had requested to take her to her Airbnb, only to wake up hours later in a motel without her clothes on and what had happened to her.
The un-named victim claims that the fake Uber driver sexually assaulted her and used her credit card to pay for the motel and to fill up his car with gas during the January 12th incident.
‘I don’t know what they did to me’
The California resident was lured to a car that looked similar to the one she was waiting for and got in according to arrest affidavit obtained by CBS News Miami.
Instead of going to her Airbnb just a few minutes away, Maurad-Avecillas, 49, drove her over 20 minutes away to Motel 77, the affidavit reportedly said.
The woman on Friday told Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy S. Glazer during a probably cause hearing that she had no recollection of how she ended up at the ‘pay by the hour’ motel and believes she was drugged up.
The victim said she is suffering from bodily injury as a result of this incident.
‘I have bodily injury. I don’t know what they did to me. I have bruises,’ said the woman according to WSVN.
Maurad-Avecillas is facing charges including credit card fraud, along with fraudulent use of personal identification, with Glazer saying there’s also probable cause for kidnapping.
Are there other female victims?
Maurad-Avecillas has been ordered to have no contact with the victim, and Miami Police say this may not be the first time he has targeted women, with investigators now saying he likely targeted other women waiting for their ride-share.
Detectives suspect Maurad-Avecillas was preying on women late at night while driving a silver or black sports utility vehicle, according to a statement that Officer Kiara Delva, a spokeswoman for the Miami Police Department, released on Saturday.
And what does Uber think?
Responded the ride share company: ‘There are no words to describe this sickening behavior. We removed the driver’s access as soon as this was reported to us and are supporting law enforcement with their investigation.’
It remained unclear if the man would also now face sexual assault charges.
Maurad-Avecillas remains in custody after Judge Glazer denied him bond, WPLG reported.
Detectives are asking potential victims to come forward if they hadn’t done so.
Delva asked anyone with information about the crimes described to contact detectives at 305-603-6300, or 305-579-6111, or via e-mail at [email protected], or Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
