Police report details incidents of sexual assault by an imposter posing as a rideshare driver in Miami nightclubs.
A 39-year-old man named Yadir Alejandro Gongora was arrested on Saturday in connection to two separate cases. He is facing charges of sexual battery and kidnapping. He is currently being held at Metrowest Detention Center without the possibility of being released on bond.
In August 2023, a young woman, aged 22, approached the City of Miami Police Department to report a case of sexual assault. However, she expressed difficulty in recalling the details of the incident.
According to a report, the woman and two of her coworkers decided to have a night out and took an Uber to Candela, a bar in Brickell. Afterwards, her phone died and she was unable to locate her friends.
She chose to venture outdoors and later found herself in a vehicle, with no recollection of how she had entered, according to the report. During the incident, an individual sexually assaulted her while another individual was operating the vehicle.
According to the report, the woman regained consciousness nearly five hours later, still inside the vehicle. According to the report, one of the men directed her to exit at a Publix store situated at 134 SW 13th Street. The grocery store was just a short distance from the bar.
In May, police obtained undisclosed information that ultimately led them to Gongora, as stated in the report filed in court this week. During police questioning on Friday, Gongora insisted that he was unfamiliar with the woman and had never encountered her previously.
According to the report, Gongora mentioned that he provided transportation services from clubs in the Wynwood and downtown Miami areas, including Club Space. Gongora stated that he was employed by a rideshare app from 2017 to 2019. However, he eventually transitioned to providing transportation services to individual customers who reached out to him directly.
In October, Gongora was accused of committing robbery by sudden snatching and sexual battery. According to police, he allegedly pretended to be an Uber driver and assaulted a woman he had picked up from a Wynwood nightclub. In May, he received a two-year probation sentence for a robbery charge. The details surrounding the plea deal remain uncertain as of Monday evening.
