Woman, 22, Raped After Getting Into Car She Thought Was Lyft Driver

CHELSEA, NY — A 22-year-old woman told police she was raped early Wednesday by a man who pretended to be a Lyft driver, police said.

According to police, the woman had ordered a Lyft at 2 a.m. and was waiting on the sidewalk in Chelsea when a man drove up in a black Suburban and said he was her driver. She got in the backseat and gave him directions, but the man instead drove to East 26th Street, between Second and Third avenues, and raped her, police said.

The woman was treated at New York University Hospital. NYPD Special Victims Division is investigating the incident, police said.

The case was similar to one on Sept. 17 when an NYU student was picked up at East 33rd Street by a car she thought was a black cab. The woman was raped by the driver before being dropped off in the East Village. An NYPD spokeswoman said she did not know if the incidents were related at this time.

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