Photo: ROBYN BECK / AFP / Getty Images
SANTA MONICA (CNS) - A man has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a female passenger in his vehicle while he was employed as a Lyft driver in September, Santa Monica police said Wednesday.
Officers were sent to the 2900 block of Pennsylvania Avenue on Sept. 7, 2023, "regarding a sexual assault," according to Lt. Erika Aklufi of the Santa Monica Police Department.
"A woman reported that a Lyft driver picked her up from a restaurant in West Hollywood and sexually assaulted her during the ride home," Aklufi said in a statement.
"The victim, a Santa Monica resident, fell asleep in the car and woke up to inappropriate touching," she continued. "The suspect then offered to walk her to her door, which she refused. Once home, she realized several hours had passed since she was picked up."
Santa Monica police detectives conducted an investigation, and identified the driver as Fernando Macias Morales, 34, of Los Angeles, Aklufi said.
He was arrested April 5 in the San Fernando Valley.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office charged Morales with felony counts of kidnapping to commit a sexual act, sexual penetration of a person intoxicated or under sedation, and oral copulation of a person intoxicated or under sedation, Aklufi said.
Morales was being held on $500,000 bail, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Anyone with information on the case was urged to contact Detective Stephanie Davis at 310-458-2201, ext. 4400; Sgt. Chad Goodwin at 310-458-8931; or the watch commander desk 24-hours a day at 310-458-8427.