An Uber driver, 51 years old and of Cuban origin, was arrested in Hialeah, accused of allegedly sexually assaulting a 63-year-old woman whom he had met during a ride on the platform, according to local media in Miami.
Joe Luis Suárez Pozo, a resident of Miami, was arrested by agents from the Hialeah Police Community Response Team on East 53rd Street and taken to the Turner Guilford Knight (TGK) Correctional Center on a charge of sexual assault.
How did the alleged assault happen?
According to the arrest report cited by Telemundo 51, the victim's daughter had requested an Uber for her mother to travel from Hialeah to Boca Ratón to care for her granddaughter, and Suárez Pozo was the assigned driver.
During the journey, they exchanged phone numbers for future rides.
Days later, the accused contacted the woman, told her he was near her house, and invited her for coffee. She accepted because she considered him, according to the police report, "a good person."
Instead of taking her to a café, Suárez Pozo drove to Victor Wilde Park, at 1701 W. 53rd Terrace, where he stopped.
There, he lunged at her while she was in the passenger seat, touched and kissed her without her consent, and forced her to touch his genitals.
When the woman attempted to escape by getting out of the vehicle, the accused followed her and forced her to get back into the rear seat, where he sexually assaulted her, before taking her back to her home.
The victim took months to report
The alleged assault occurred in February 2026, but the victim did not come forward to the police until July 2, five months later.
The spokesperson for the Hialeah Police, Eddie Rodriguez, explained that the woman was deeply traumatized and sought professional help before reporting.
"She sought professional assistance and, fortunately, that person convinced her to take the step," Rodriguez said.
According to the arrest report, the statements made by Suárez Pozo during the interrogation matched the victim's account, which led to his formal detention.
This Tuesday, Suárez Pozo appeared before the Miami-Dade judge, Mindy Glazer, who determined probable cause in the case and set the bail at 7,500 dollars.
Uber expels the driver and the police are searching for more victims
Uber confirmed that it expelled Suárez Pozo from its platform, although it clarified that the incident did not occur during an active trip in the application.
"Although this did not happen during an Uber trip, we are outraged by this report and have banned the driver from the platform. Uber is deeply committed to safety and we are ready to assist the authorities with their investigation in any way we can," said a company spokesperson.
The Hialeah Police also made a public appeal to potential additional victims to contact the investigators.
"Now I worry that there may be other victims," warned Rodriguez.
This case adds to a series of incidents involving drivers from ride-sharing platforms in the Miami area.
In June of this year, another Uber driver was arrested in Doral, accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a passenger picked up in Miami Beach.
In response to these incidents, Uber announced the tightening of its background checks that same month, extending the search to include up to 99 years of criminal history linked to the driver's Social Security number, a measure that took effect on June 29.
The case of Suárez Pozo, however, raises a question that these measures do not fully address: what responsibility do the platforms have when their drivers use the contact established through the app to commit crimes outside of it?
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