A 47-year-old Boston man, working for one of the leading rideshare companies, was charged this past weekend with assault with intent to rape and kidnapping after allegedly assaulting and restraining his paid rideshare passenger who was traveling to Haverhill.
Roberto C. Serpas Canales was arraigned in Haverhill District Court Monday after being arrested Saturday afternoon for the alleged daytime assault on his passenger a week ago Monday. The victim, a 40-year-old woman, came to the Haverhill police station late Friday afternoon to report being physically and sexually assaulted.
According to police reports, the woman said she ordered a rideshare from Uber Monday, July 29, and was picked up at 12:50 p.m. in Beverly from a man identified as “Roberto” on the company’s app. The car was later identified as a 2017 black Toyota Camry. During the ride to Haverhill, police reports recount, she saw from the back seat on the opposite side of the car that the driver was fidgeting, “almost as if he was nervous,” as the car traveled along Route 97 in Groveland. Police wrote the woman reported the driver pulled over at a convenience store, near the intersection of Salem Street, ostensibly to use a restroom. He told the woman “Don’t leave” and walked behind a dumpster where she said she believed he was using his phone.
After returning to the car and the ride resuming, the woman told police, he suggested several times to turn down side streets. The woman, however, insisted to be driven to Water Street in Haverhill as requested. As they continued, she told police, he suggested other stops. The woman then asked to be dropped off at a downtown grocery store, but the driver refused and, around 1:30 p.m., instead turned into an empty lot adjacent to the Water Street apartment building. Police wrote that even during the day visibility across the lot is obscured by trees and brush.
Once stopped, the driver suggested the woman drink from his open water bottle. As she tried to escape the car, the man reportedly opened the back, driver’s side door and pulled her back in, while also grabbing her right arm to prevent her from opening the other door.
According to police reports, “He pulled her towards him before she could exit the car. He held her arms tightly, resulting in several bruises on her forearms and began kissing her on the face, neck and breasts” over a 10-minute period. She said she told him repeatedly to “stop,” but was unable to escape his grip and he grabbed and bruised her breast and moved his hand inside of her pants. Loosening his grip at that point, she was able to escape by striking him with her left elbow. As she ran away, the driver reminded her that he knows her address from the original call.
The woman first reported the events to the friend she set out to visit and also called and texted her boyfriend to relate she had been assaulted. Police were able to confirm the texts, take information from the rideshare app and locate the Toyota—also registered to Serpas Canales—from city surveillance cameras. Police said one image of the driver bears a “strong resemblance” to his drivers’ license photograph. Police also documented the woman’s injuries.
Serpas Canales was ordered held and is due to return to Haverhill District Court via video conference Thursday, Aug. 8, for a detention hearing.