An Uber driver who tried to convince two passengers to have sex with him on the same morning in early May, according to police, also propositioned a third woman that day as she tried to get to work, Berkeleyside has learned.
The Alameda County district attorney’s office had previously charged Gebrele Amare, 23, of Oakland with kidnapping to commit a sex crime and sexual battery by restraint in connection with two separate fares he picked up May 2.
One of those women jumped out of his moving car to escape him, according to police. The other threatened to break out his car window after he touched her thigh and locked his doors repeatedly so she couldn’t flee.
Now Amare is facing an additional charge of kidnapping to commit a sex crime, according to court papers. Police say Amare picked up the third woman at some point May 2 when she used the Uber app to seek a ride to work. After he picked her up, police wrote, Amare “asked her if she wanted to ‘fuck.'”
The woman told Amare to let her out of his car but he would not, according to court papers. She opened her door while the vehicle was still moving, but Amare only accelerated, according to police “and ran two red lights” to try to keep the woman in his vehicle.
The woman was able to call 911 to tell police “she was being held against her will,” according to court papers. When Amare heard this, he finally pulled over to let her out, police wrote.
Police said Thursday after publication that the woman is in her 30s and that Amare picked her up in Oakland. Details about exactly where or when the ride took place were not shared. BPD has declined previously to release much detail about the victims in the case due to the sensitive nature of the allegations.
Amare has been in custody since his arrest May 9. The new charge was filed last week Thursday, May 30.
Amare is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin and is set for a pretrial hearing June 26, according to court records online.
