Uber Driver Arrested After Trying To Rape Sleeping Passenger, Police Say

EAST VILLAGE, NY — Police arrested an Uber driver they say sexually abused his passenger after she fell asleep in the backseat of his car.

Authorities arrested Kar Keong Liao on Saturday, two days after he was accused of attacking his 31-year-old passenger. Police say Liao, 47, picked up the woman at about 2 a.m. on Thursday morning in Midtown East, near 52nd Street and Second Avenue.

The woman, who had been drinking throughout the evening, asked the driver to take her to her East Village apartment before falling asleep in the back seat. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

She later woke up and saw her driver "on top of her, thrusting his body onto hers, and was having sexual intercourse with her," she told police, according to a criminal complaint. The woman passed out again before waking up in the driver's home in Queens, where she found herself naked in his bed, according to the complaint.

Liao reportedly told the woman that he had used a condom, and he had kissed her, according to police. At no point did the woman consent to the driver touching or kissing her, she told police. The driver admitted to detectives that he tried to rape her but was physically unable to, according to the criminal complaint.

He was charged with attempted rape, sexual abuse and committing a criminal sexual act.

Patch was not immediately able to contact Liao's attorney for comment on Monday afternoon.

"What has been reported is deeply concerning," an Uber spokesperson said in a statement to Patch. "This driver has been banned from using Uber."

Liao is being held on a $10,000 bail, according to jail records. He is next scheduled to appear in court in September.

Lead image via Spencer Platt / Getty Images News.