Man accused of posing as rideshare driver, sexually assaulting woman in Miami Beach – NBC 6 South Florida

Miami Beach Police have arrested a man this week and accused him of posing as a rideshare driver and sexually assaulting a woman back in February.

Detectives said the woman was leaving a nightclub on Collins Avenue and requested an Uber. Claudel Lesperance told the woman he was her driver and when she asked for him to confirm, Lesperance canceled her assigned ride on her phone, according to an arrest report.

Police said the woman was intoxicated and she told detectives she was in and out of consciousness throughout the ride. At one point when she woke up, Lesperance was sexually assaulting her in the backseat, the arrest report said, and then he took her money and told her to leave.

Police arrested Lesperance Thursday after they said tests showed his DNA was on the victim’s clothes.

“There’s no indication that he’s done anything like this,” Lesperance’s attorney said. “As far as her ability of recollection, I don’t know how bad it was judged with respect to what happened prior to her getting into my client’s vehicle.”

The arrest report said detectives reviewed surveillance video from a camera outside the club and saw Lesperance, who seemed to watch people going in and out. He then saw the woman and was allegedly fixated on her.

It’s not the first case of someone posing as a rideshare driver in South Florida.

Earlier this year, Miami Beach Police said Danny Maurad-Avecillas posed as a woman’s Uber driver, picking up intoxicated women before allegedly drugging and assaulting them.

Last October, Yadir Alejandro Gongora was arrested, accused of sexual battery and robbery after two women thought his SUV was their Uber.

Lesperance will stay in jail with no bond. He has a hearing Tuesday.