A few minutes after dropping off a woman at her Sandy Springs apartment last week, an Uber driver is accused of returning to break into the home and attacking her, according to arrest affidavits that detail a horrifying sequence of events.
Le’Myrious Monaye Dawson faces charges of rape, battery, burglary and theft by taking, police announced Monday. They said he gave the victim a ride home around 2:30 a.m. May 5 and then broke in, beat and raped her before stealing several of her belongings, arrest warrants state.
Uber said Dawson’s access to the platform has been removed.
“The reported details of what the victim went through are disturbing,” an Uber spokesperson said in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, adding that the company “stand(s) ready to support law enforcement however we can with their investigation.”
The morning of the attack, the woman awoke wearing clothes she did not wear the night before and with injuries to her face and body, according to court documents. Police believe she was punched repeatedly in the face — hard enough to cause a black eye and swelling with contusions to her cheek and chin, as well as “a bruised handprint on her chest,” the warrant states. She was evaluated by a sexual assault nurse, who documented several more signs of assault and other physical evidence.
Detectives worked quickly to identify the alleged assailant through security footage and license plate readers, which led them to a business that rents vehicles to Uber and Lyft drivers, court records show. The business had a record of Dawson renting the vehicle, which was equipped with a GPS tracker, since March, investigators noted.
According to the arrest warrant, investigators recovered “crisp, clear” footage from a doorbell camera that shows the suspect arriving at the apartment complex shortly after 2:30 a.m. and leaving 10 minutes later before returning. He then waits a few minutes and briefly leaves again before walking to the victim’s apartment, the warrant details.
About an hour after initially dropping off the victim, Dawson is allegedly seen on security footage loading two TVs into the trunk. He is also accused of stealing the victim’s purse, wallet, two cellphones, various pieces of jewelry and two watches.
The following day, detectives found Dawson at the West End MARTA station on Lee Street in southwest Atlanta. A search warrant was obtained for his vehicle and home, where investigators recovered several items belonging to the victim, officials said.
“The men and women of the Sandy Springs Police Department worked diligently to identify, locate and bring Mr. Dawson to justice,” police said in a statement.
Anyone with information, including other law enforcement agencies working on similar cases, are asked to call detective J.T. Williams at 770-551-6937 or jtwilliams@sandyspringsga.gov.
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