A Lyft driver was arrested after authorities said he raped an intoxicated Miami Beach tourist in his car.
Kevyn Rojas, 28, was arrested Tuesday on a charge of sexual battery of a helpless victim, an arrest report said.
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Rojas appeared in court Wednesday where a Miami-Dade judge set his bond at $500,000. He was represented by a public defender.
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"The allegations are that he raped her," a prosecutor said during the hearing.
According to the arrest report, the tourist was visiting from Texas and staying at a hotel on Collins Avenue but had gone to a bar in Wynwood with a friend.
After drinking at the bar, the woman started to feel sick and ordered a Lyft to take her back to the hotel.
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Rojas arrived and the victim got in the back seat of his car and fell asleep. She said she woke up at one point and saw her hotel, but Rojas drove away and kept driving around, the report said.
He eventually parked the car and got in the back seat with the woman, where he sexually battered her, the report said.
The woman said she told him to stop but was too intoxicated to fight him off, the report said.
After the battery, Rojas drove the woman to her hotel and dropped her off. She immediately called police.
The report said surveillance footage was consistent with the victim's statement about what happened.
A Lyft spokesperson said the company screens all their drivers and requires initial and annual background checks, and performs continuous monitoring of criminal and driving records.
"Safety is fundamental to Lyft, and the behavior described is appalling," the spokesperson said in a statement. "The driver has been permanently removed from the Lyft community and we stand ready to assist law enforcement with their investigation in any way we can."
Records showed Rojas was arrested in 2020 for aggravated assault but the charges were dropped.
