A 22-year-old Uber driver has been charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl who was a passenger in Laguna Beach, authorities said Tuesday.

Samer Alaaeldin Mahran is accused of sexually assaulting the girl in his car near her home in Laguna Beach early Saturday, said Laguna Beach Police Sgt. Tim Kleiser.

Kleiser said police were called at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday regarding a sexual assault in an Uber car. Uber assisted police in identifying the driver, he said, adding that Mahran was arrested hours later at his home in Huntington Beach.

He said Mahran had worked for Uber for less than a year.

“We’re devastated by what this family has gone through and our hearts are with them,” Uber spokeswoman Tracey Breeden said in a statement. “We’ll continue working with police to support the investigation and proceedings. The individual has been permanently barred from the app.”

Mahran was charged Tuesday with four felony counts of rape by use of drugs, forcible oral copulation on a minor over the age of 14, sexual penetration of a child over 14 by a foreign object and force, and unlawful sexual intercourse, according to court records.

In January, another Uber driver was charged with raping a 21-year-old woman in an Anaheim motel after giving her a ride from a Fullerton bar.

Omar Mahmoud Mousa, 53, of Anaheim had pleaded not guilty to felony charges of rape, forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by foreign object in connection with the Oct. 2015 incident, authorities said.

Mousa is due in Orange County Superior Court for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.

The rapidly growing ride-sharing company, based in San Francisco, has faced scrutiny in the wake of high-profile incidents.

In April, Uber agreed to pay at least $10 million to settle a consumer protection lawsuit filed by district attorneys in Los Angeles and San Francisco claiming the company misled passengers about the quality of its driver background checks.

In a separate case, Uber earlier this year reached a $28.5 million settlement brought by riders over similar allegations.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: kpuente@ocregister.com