A Duluth man is accused of groping a Lyft driver and engaging in lewd acts while seated in the backseat of the rideshare vehicle, police said Thursday.
Antonio Cartagena, 25, was arrested Tuesday after he allegedly touched the 55-year-old woman inappropriately at the intersection of Pleasant Hill Road and North Berkeley Lake Road near Shorty Howell Park, Duluth police said in a news release.
“Startled, the victim turned around only to discover that Cartagena was partially nude and engaging in lewd acts,” police added.
According to an arrest warrant, Cartagena requested the rideshare from his job at an Amazon warehouse on Venture Drive on June 22. He allegedly groped the driver around 11:45 a.m. during the three-mile drive to his destination, the warrant added. Authorities said Cartagena got out of the vehicle after the incident and ran away.
He wasn’t identified until months later after police obtained a search warrant and asked Lyft for the passenger’s rideshare records, which took some time, Duluth police spokesman Ted Sadowski told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Safety is fundamental to Lyft,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “The behavior described is reprehensible and has no place in the Lyft community or anywhere in society. We permanently banned the individual from the Lyft platform and have reached out to the driver to offer our support.”
Cartagena was booked into the Gwinnett County Jail on charges of sexual battery and public indecency. He was released from jail early Wednesday after posting bond, according to online records.
Sadowski said detectives believe it might not be the first time Cartagena was involved in this type of incident. Anyone who experienced something similar involving the suspect is asked to contact police at 678-512-3708.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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