An Uber driver was arrested on a charge of sexual battery after allegedly having sex with an intoxicated woman in the back of his vehicle.
A deputy responded to an undisclosed Leesburg residence at the request of the on-call criminal investigations supervisor on Thursday to investigate a possible sexual battery, later found to involve 46-year-old Darrell Lavon Hayes of Lake Mary, according to an arrest report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Upon the deputy’s arrival at the scene, he spoke with the road patrol deputies who conducted the initial investigation. They gave a synopsis of what occurred before the deputy interviewed the female victim inside her residence, the report said.
The victim stated that she was in the Sanford area at a bar having drinks with a friend. She was very intoxicated, and her friend called her an Uber to come and take her home. She fell asleep in the back of the Uber on the way home, but remembered waking up when they arrived in her neighborhood, the report said.
The victim fell back asleep, and when she woke back up, her Uber driver was on top of her having sex with her. She started kicking and screaming, so he got off her and she was able to get dressed. At no point did she talk to the driver about having sex nor did she give her consent to have sex, the report said.
The deputy questioned the Uber driver, who said he picked the woman up at a bar in Sanford and drove her to her residence in Leesburg. When they arrived at the residence, she was asleep in his back seat, and he could not wake her up, the report said.
Hayes advised that he went to the front door of the residence to try and wake up a family member in the house to get help waking up the victim. He was unable to wake anyone up, so he went back to the car, opened the back door, and she still would not get out, the report said.
Hayes started telling the victim that she was home and needed to get out of his car. The victim replied by saying she was tired and wanted to sleep. He told her that she needed to get out so he could get back to work. The victim stated that she could not get up, so he told her he would help her and grabbed her legs to help her get out of the car, the report said.
When the victim got out of the car, she was unable to stand on her own, so Hayes carried her to the front door. She could not find her key in her backpack, and she kept saying she was cold and wanted to sit in the car. He then helped her back into the back seat of his car, the report said.
Hayes then got in the backseat of his car so he could help look for the victim’s key. While doing so, he stated that the victim moved her hand onto his leg before grabbing his hand and putting it on her leg. He asked her if she was sure she wanted to do this, and she did not reply, the report said.
Hayes next put his hand on her butt area, and he said the victim grabbed his hand again. He then put his hand on her vaginal area and asked her again if she was sure this was what she wanted, but she still did not reply. He went ahead and had intercourse with the victim, the report said.
At the end, Hayes stated the victim “kinda woke up and got mad,” yelling at him and asking why he did that. She got out of the car and walked away to sit on the street side. He then decided that he needed to leave. However, after he drove off, he decided to report the incident so that he could tell his side of the story, the report said.
The deputy asked Hayes if he thought it was a good idea to have sex with someone who was intoxicated to the point they were falling asleep. Hayes claimed that she initiated contact first. Hayes stated that she did not stop him, the report said.
The final question was if everything Hayes did was above board and he did nothing wrong, why did he think he needed to make a statement, the report said. Hayes stated, “Well I did not say everything I did was perfect.”
Hayes was subsequently arrested on charge of sexual battery. He was transported to Lake County Jail to be held without bond.
