A man accused of posing as an Uber driver and raping a DC college student who was his passenger was released from jail Wednesday despite the rape charge.
El Houcine Jourhdaly, 36, said he had sex with the woman but that it was consensual. DC Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz ruled that under D.C. Code, the woman was too drunk to consent to sex.
As News4 reported, the woman told police the driver sexually assaulted her on American University’s campus.
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Details revealed in court shed new light on the alleged crime that shocked many ride-hailing service users and members of the American University community.
Surveillance video shows Jourhdaly circling the campus before the alleged attack, a detective testified, NBC Washington reported.
The 20-year-old woman and her friend, a man, told police they saw an Uber sticker on a car near Dupont Circle about 3:20 a.m. Sunday. They were leaving the bar Manor after a night of drinking and flagged down the driver.
Jourhdaly said he would drive the pair, and they got in the car, police said.
According to the driver and the woman’s friend, the woman and her friend were arguing, and then she passed out. When the car got to American University, the male passenger got out and Jourhdaly took off with the woman still in the car, police said.
Surveillance footage shows him driving around campus for 10 to 15 minutes and then stopping in a remote parking lot.
Then, the woman says the driver raped her.
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