CHICAGO — Police are investigating an alleged rape by an Uber driver who picked up a woman at a River North bar in November.
While no one has been arrested in the Nov. 16 incident, Jennifer Mullin, an Uber spokeswoman, said in a statement Monday that the company "immediately removed the driver from the Uber platform" after learning about the "appalling and unacceptable incident."
The incident occurred after the victim requested a ride from Uber about 2:30 a.m. after a night out with her colleagues, according to a police report filed later that day.
The passenger was getting into the back seat of the Uber driver's black four-door car about 20 minutes later, when the driver told her to get in the front seat because he wasn't familiar with the area where she was going, the report said.
With the woman in the front seat, the driver later parked the car near Lawrence and Western avenues and grabbed the woman, the report said.
The woman blacked out and recalled being in an apartment with the driver on top of her, police said. He later drove her home in the same car, according to the report.
The woman texted a friend shortly after 4 a.m. about the incident before falling asleep, the report said.
"I was just sexually assaulted by my Uber driver and I'm supberb (sic) drunk, but I need someone to remind me to follow through to make sure this never happens again," she texted, according to the report.
When she awoke later that morning she called an Uber representative. A police officer tried to get information from the company, but was unable to do so, according to the report.
Mullin said the company has been working with police in the investigation, which authorities said was ongoing. Police have been in contact with the woman and the company as the investigation continues, Police spokesman Marty Maloney said Tuesday afternoon.
"This is an appalling and unacceptable incident, and first and foremost our thoughts are with the victim and her family," Mullin, the Uber spokeswoman, said in a statement. "We immediately removed the driver from the Uber platform when we learned of the reported incident and are cooperating fully with law enforcement. We stand ready to assist them however we can to hold the perpetrator accountable. "
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