Man charged with sexual assault after 'pretending to be Uber driver'
A 34-year-old man has been charged with sexually touching a woman without consent after allegedly pretending to be an Uber driver in Wollongong.
The man is accused of approaching a woman at around 2.40am on Saturday, claiming his phone app was off-line and that he was her driver.
She got into the car with the man, who allegedly performed an "indecent act" once they were alone.
Police launched an investigation and managed to track down the alleged offender in Robinson Street, Wollongong at around 9pm on Monday. He was driving a Honda Accord with a female passenger on the front seat.
He was arrested and taken to Wollongong police station, where he was charged with sexually touching another person without consent, as well as being unlicensed.
He will face court in November after being granted conditional bail.
Police are urging members of the public to ensure they check the details of the vehicle which has been booked against the phone app when booking a ride-share.
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The arrest comes after a number of women spoke out on social media about a spate of harrowing close calls with a man pretending to work for the rideshare company over the weekend.
Georgia Hazeldene, 26, told Yahoo News she was approached by a man claiming to be an Uber driver but brushed him off as a ‘sleazy man’, only to find out her friend had been lured into the car by seemingly the same man.
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