Uber driver claims customer sexually assaulted her

From the beginning of the ride on Nov. 27, Young said her intuition told her the customer would be trouble.

First, she said he was drunk and refused to put on his seat belt. His friend had requested an Uber ride on his behalf from a bar, according to a Seattle police report.

A few minutes into the ride, "he lunges up, grabs me right here and just starts kissing neck and my cheek here," Young said. "So I kind of had to do like that but I really couldn't fight him off."

Young claimed the man kept telling her he was going to have sex with her before passing out.

Panicked, she headed for a public place: the Fred Meyer in Greenwood.

"I stopped," she said as she stopped her car in front of the Fred Meyer. "I parked and I got out. Right here so everyone could see him."

She snapped a picture of the man being arrested.

Police charged Kevin Mitchell with assault and harassment with sexual motivation - a misdemeanor.

KIRO 7 called the 33-year-old at work Monday night. He said he had “no comment.”

Young said she's speaking out for female rideshare drivers who face constant sexual harassment and fear that if they react it'll affect their jobs.

"Even when they ask you out in the beginning of the ride and you say 'no' you're constantly worried, is that going to affect my rating?" she said.

Drivers can deny service, but they risk having a bad customer rating and losing their jobs.

Uber spokeswoman Kayla Whaling released the following statement:

"We are committed to the safety and security of both drivers and riders. We don't tolerate this type of behavior and will not hesitate to permanently remove someone's access to Uber. We reached out to Maggie as soon as we were made aware of this incident and pulled information from the trip so we could take the appropriate actions as well as provide any information to Seattle Police for investigative purposes."

Whaling told KIRO 7 the suspect in this case can no longer use any Uber services.