Boston Police Investigate 3 Alleged Ride-For-Hire Assaults

Boston police are investigating three separate allegations of indecent assaults on women using ride-for-hire services.

All of the alleged assaults happened within a two-hour period early Sunday morning.

Just before 1 a.m. Sunday, a female "stated that she had been indecently assaulted by an individual she believed to be employed by a rideshare service," according to the Boston Police Department. After being picked up in the area of Dorchester Avenue and Columbia Road, the victim said the driver "offered her money and touched her inappropriately."

Later, at 2:34 a.m. Sunday, Boston officers spoke to a victim who said a person she believed to be a ride-for-hire driver "made attempts to touch her inappropriately" after being picked up from 1030 Commonwealth Ave.

A similar allegation of assault occurred minutes later, after a female arranged transportation from Faneuil Hall to Dorchester. "During the ride, the victim says she fell asleep and woke to the driver indecently assaulting her," BPD said.

Police are not naming which ride-for-hire services the women used, or whether the same driver is alleged to be involved.

BPD also included safety tips "to consider when using transportation services in Boston."

Update at 5:55 p.m.: "We have information from the victims that indicates that they had called for Uber to come and pick them up from their locations," Lt. Michael McCarthy, a Boston police spokesman, said in a phone interview.

He added that the investigations into the alleged assaults remain ongoing.

In a statement, an Uber spokesperson said, "Due to our privacy policy, we’re unable to share whether these women are Uber users. But what we can share is that we have no evidence to suggest any Uber partner was involved in these unfortunate incidents. The bottom line is that the facts indicate that these three instances involve illegal street hails, and we applaud these women for shedding light on this issue in Boston."

The spokesperson added that Uber has "proactively reached out to offer our help, and are always willing to assist law enforcement in any way we can, even in instances like these, where we have no indication Uber partners were involved."