Newark Police Department(NEWARK, Delaware) — A woman was sexually assaulted by an armed man claiming to be a ride-share driver near the University of Delaware early Saturday, police said. Authorities are now searching for the man responsible.
The 21-year-old woman was walking on South Chapel Street near East Delaware Avenue in Newark, just a couple blocks from campus, at about 1:15 a.m. when a man pulled up, identified himself as a ride-share driver and asked if she needed a ride, according to the Newark Police Department.
The woman had not called for a ride, but got into the vehicle.
After she got into the vehicle, the man drove northbound before pulling over and forcing the woman at knifepoint to perform a sex act, police said.
She exited the vehicle “after the sexual act was completed” and called 911 from a nearby residence, according to Newark police.
The woman told police the man was driving a silver, four-door GMC truck with an extended cab. Authorities later released pictures of the suspected vehicle in the area.
She was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital.
Police have not said whether the woman is a student at the University of Delaware. Spring semester at the university, which has about 18,000 undergraduates, does not end until May 30.
The incident is part of a trend of assaults by people posing as ride-share drivers. The problem was brought further into the national consciousness when a student at the University of South Carolina was killed after getting into what she thought was an Uber.
Samantha Josephson, a 21-year-old from New Jersey, was out drinking with friends near the campus when she got into a car she thought was the Uber she had requested. Instead, the man was posing as a driver and later killed the woman.
Nathaniel Rowland has been charged with murder and kidnapping in the case.
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