An Uber driver has been indicted after delivering a passenger to Marysville then allegedly raping her.
The Union County Grand Jury has charged Muzaffer Sakin, 57, of Columbus, with two counts of rape, two counts of sexual battery and one count of gross sexual imposition.
Union County Prosecutor Dave Phillips said that on the evening of Feb. 15, the victim had been out drinking with friends in Delaware County. He said the woman had planned to stay with friends.
“Because of her level of intoxication, her friends decided she needed to go home,” Phillips said.
The friends called an Uber for the woman. Uber is service, similar to a taxi, that allows people to connect with private drivers who agree to transport them.
Phillips said the Uber driver, Sakin, delivered the woman to Marysville. He said Sakin had trouble finding the woman’s address and eventually just delivered her to the area of her home.
“When she got out of the Uber, she was apparently so intoxicated she fell down,” Phillips said.
Sakin apparently helped the woman stand and asked three men standing outside a nearby bar to take care of her. At that point the woman determined that she had lost her phone and her keys.
Phillips said Sakin found the woman’s keys and went to give them to the victim, who had by that point gone into the nearby bar.
“He then escorts her into her home,” Phillips said.
He said security footage shows a portion of the Sakin’s alleged encounter with the woman and she is “obviously, extraordinarily intoxicated.”
“He engaged in sexual acts with her and then leaves,” Phillips said.
He said Sakin undressed the woman and the alleged rape “goes on for a while.”
The prosecutor said that when the victim realized what happened, she tried to call a friend for help. He said the woman did not have her phone but used a voice-activated assistant, which dialed the wrong number. The call recipient was able to determine what happened and called police for the woman.
Phillips said the allegation does not include the use of force. The prosecutor said that is not a necessary element of the rape because of “her inability to consent.” He said the woman’s actions are “irrelevant” because she was too impaired to give permission or to say ‘No.’
“It was so obviously beyond simple intoxication,” Phillips said. “The allegation is that she could not control her behavior and she could not legally consent and he was aware of that.”
He added that because the woman was in this condition, “we allege he took unconscionable advantage of her.”
Phillips said an arrest warrant has been issued, but Sakin has not yet been arrested.
The prosecutor said Uber officials were “cooperative” with Marysville Division of Police investigators.
Phillips said he does not know of any other allegations against Sakin.
If convicted on all counts, Sakin could spend more than 16 years in prison.