Oakland Uber driver arrested, accused of kidnapping and intending to rape passengers

Berkeley Police released a mugshot of Gebrele Amare. Berkeley Police released a mugshot of Gebrele Amare. Photo: Berkeley Police Department Photo: Berkeley Police Department Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Oakland Uber driver arrested, accused of kidnapping and intending to rape passengers 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

An East Bay Uber driver has been arrested following allegations that he kidnapped two separate passengers and demanded sex from them.

One woman ordered a car to go to work at 5:30 a.m. on the morning of May 2. Berkeley police say that when the the driver, who they identified as 23-year-old Oakland resident Gebrele Amare, picked her up around Shattuck and Essex, he told her he was going to take her to a room before taking her to work.

Police said that the passenger repeatedly demanded to be let out of the car, but Amare would not stop or let her use her phone.

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The woman, fearing for her safety, flung herself out of the moving car as it approached the intersection at Ashby and Telegraph. She ran to a Chevron gas station, where she found manager Jacobo Flores, according to KPIX.

"All she wanted to do was hide," Flores told KPIX. "She was like, 'Oh, somebody's chasing me, somebody's chasing me!' And I said, 'Go ahead and sit down in the office.'"

Berkeley police tell SFGATE she sustained minor injuries to her ankle and elbow from escaping the car.

Later that morning, police say Amare picked up a teenage girl, inappropriately touched her thigh, locked the doors and similarly refused to let her out of the car. He eventually released her when she threatened to break the windows, according to police.

Amare was arrested that day and charged with two felony counts of kidnapping with attempt to rape after both women identified him.

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According to police, Amare later admitted to kidnapping the first woman "because he wanted to have sex with her and he wanted to 'pimp' her." He also said he accelerated the car to keep her from escaping. He denied involvement in the teen's attempted kidnapping.

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Uber described the riders' reports as "deeply troubling."

The company said drivers undergo background checks in accordance with California law, and Uber monitors any new arrests involving their drivers. Uber says it removed Amare from the app the day he was arrested.

"Upon learning of this," the spokesperson said, "we removed the driver's access to the app and stand ready to assist police in their investigation."

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.

