COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Prosecutors have dropped charges against a former UberX driver accused of sexually assaulting a passenger last year.
Maxime Fohounhedo, 30, was arrested in December after authorities claimed he brought a drunken passenger back to his Albany Park apartment, sexually assaulted the woman and told her "I made you happy."
Fohounhedo was ordered held on $500,000 bail, and Uber dropped him from the service, calling the accusations "appalling and unacceptable."
But on Monday, prosecutors withdrew charges against Fohounhedo in light of new evidence, according to court records and media reports.
Fohounhedo's attorney, Shady Yousif Yassin, said his client made a nine-minute recording on his cellphone while driving the alleged victim home in November, the Tribune reported.
In it, the woman, who authorities alleged was lapsing in and out of consciousness, was alert and engaged in conversation, Yassin told the Tribune.
"At the end, she gives him a big hug and a big kiss," Yassin said. "That's not somebody who's in fear of her life."
Uber could not be reached for comment.
Prosecutors and police said the alleged attack happened about 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 16 after the 22-year-old woman requested a ride from Uber following a night out with colleagues in River North.
The woman fell asleep in the back seat, prosecutors said, but Fohounhedo soon asked her to move up front since he didn't know where she was going. The woman told authorities she blacked out and woke up in Fohounhedo's apartment, where he was sexually assaulting her on his couch.
Fohounhedo later took the woman home. As he was leading her down the back stairs of his building, he told her "I made you happy," prosecutors said.
According to a police report, the woman texted a friend shortly after 4 a.m. about the incident: "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."
The woman was treated at Swedish Covenant Hospital.
Fohounhedo's wife, whose account he was using during the time of the incident, told reporters in December that if anything happened that night, it was consensual.
Uber spokeswoman Jennifer Mullin at the time said that the company was looking into the shared account.
"Account sharing is expressly prohibited on the Uber platform," Mullin said in a statement. "Mr. and Mrs. Fohounhedo committed fraud in this deplorable act and we are exploring all legal options."
Sheena Fohounhedo emailed the company asking to add her husband to her account, according to documents provided by Uber to DNAinfo. "You are not able to add drivers to an Uber X account," an Uber employee responded in an email.
Fohounhedo, who'd been in jail since his arrest, was released Monday. He'd been charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse and four counts of kidnapping. All charges were dropped.
