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Uber driver charged with raping rider in Dorchester

An Everett man was ordered held in lieu of $10,000 bail after he was charged with raping a rider in his ride-share car early Tuesday, Boston Police and the Suffolk County District Attorney's office report.

Boston Police say Michael Squadrito, 40, picked up a woman in downtown Boston for what she thought would be a ride home. Instead, police say, he "drove to a location in Dorchester where he sexually assaulted the victim."

According to the DA's office:

Squadrito was driving for Uber early Tuesday morning when he picked up the victim, a woman in her 20s, near Faneuil Hall in Boston. The victim reported that, instead of taking her home, he parked at an unknown location and sexually assaulted her in the vehicle. The victim fled the vehicle, called a family member to disclose the assault, and admitted herself to Brigham & Women’s Hospital, where Boston Police Sexual Assault Unit detectives responded to interview her. The victim was able to provide investigators with her phone, which identified Squadrito as her driver through the Uber app. In an interview with Boston Police, Squadrito allegedly stated that the sexual contact was consensual and that data from a dashboard camera would support that claim; a memory card he provided did not provide any such data or support.

Squadrito was arraigned in Dorchester Municipal Court.

Innocent, etc.

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Comments

uber cant manage its own fleet...to be continued...

many other problems

price is right but you get what u pay for ... but who cares if ...

politicians are bought off

media is bought off

uber owns america...

no face to face with partners..

no personal relationship with partners

partners dont care about customers

out of state drivers unfamiliar with boston

cheap rides can't last forever Fidelity wont give Uber any more $$$

customer will leave when prices go up..

taxis will be gone perhaps by then

then uber will have to be run by government..and mega cost to but who cares its a free ride...

uber can easily by pass age limits with 7-11 uber cards

gas prices will go up again then what...drivers will make less and less

bond market is only hope for uber as

uber is using car share to datamine customer base-its only value to investors

your info is important to uber for them to resell

already been caught twice ..then paid firm to cover it up - you get what you pay for...

you can't sue uber you give up your right when you sign up

don't lose personal belongings car may end up in state where it came from california north dakota florida kentucky...

dont spill your drink..$150-250

don't forget take a photo of car seat before you leave car...

drivers under pressure not enough $ but get rated every trip..traffic is bad enough to worry about..

uber customers take uber because its cheap do you think they are in a mood to tip? 1 out of 10 tip

80% of uber customers would never take a cab

oh yea and the rapes by undocumented drivers who skip country..but were screened well enough to drive for uber or lyft

uber and lyft should be forced to pay state back for criminals that end up in jail...

fake drivers in unmarked gypsy cars tricking cold, drunk, tired, needy

customers

uber drivers tricking same...

unmarked car makes it hard for other drivers to see you when you make your illegal turn or stop for no reason or signal...

unfamiliar with area drivers have endless accidents safety first!

two hands on wheel? ever? how do you avoid a hazard?

uber driver lending car out to friend to drive

cars uninspected bad tires, bad lights, damaged cars..

price is cheap because its subsidized below cost taking advantage of desperate drivers...

yea its called future shock when uber goes away and we are left with nothing!

think LOWES or PAPA Ginos...poof

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Too poorly punctuated and paragraphed; didn't read.

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This is like the guys wearing court-ordered GPS bracelets who knock over liquor stores. Don't you know, A: That it's wrong and B: You're going to be caught.

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Uber: one baby-step up from hitchhiking.

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.

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but way too risky, particularly nowadays.

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Sounds like Uber's getting pretty risky too.

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Before hitchhiking across the US 4 times, without incident.

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You must really not have any eyebrows left.

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Expect more of this crap until full regulation is applied

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full regulation like...?

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Yes, because I always feel SO SAFE in a taxi. Oh wait, most taxis you could be assaulted and dropped off somewhere, and they might never find the perp because his name and info isn't in an easily-accessed app.

I'm so sick of people saying taxis are safer. Could not be further from the truth. There are creeps everywhere, but at least with Uber/Lyft they know you can send your ride data to anyone and that all their personal info is on file so there's a 100% chance of getting caught.

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Uber needs to be forced to do what Lyft does; Screen prospective drivers by doing a background check on them, and if they have any kind of criminal record, or DUI (driving under the influence record), to not hire them.

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Both companies do criminal backround checks. Plus the state does backround checks on all rideshare drivers before they are allowed to work.

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People with clean records can commit crimes. And with tens of thousands of drivers in the Boston area it becomes probable.

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I use Lyft from time to time, and I find it much cheaper--and more reliable than a regular taxi cab. Unlike Lyft, Uber has a really bad reputation, not only for irresponsible drivers and failure to do background checks on them, and assaults, but I've also heard stories of Uber deliberately overcharging their passengers, by a lot. I would never, ever use Uber.

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The inherent benefit of Uber or Lyft is,there is the platform has the record. Taxis have no record of anything.......

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The background checks are exactly the same. Without fingerprints, you don't have a real identification. Since you don't look for facts what difference does it make whether you agree with me? Please don't use this thread to tell another bunch of personal stories that you heard. Complaints and arrests are public. It would less insulting to people if you made an effort.

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Lyft should command a much larger market share, and state intervention should not be necessary.

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Women taking Uber by themselves after being at a club or bar or anywhere at night are taking a risk. You never know who is behind the wheel despite a "background check". Taxi's are at least tracked and monitored by BPD. Fuck Uber.

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Let me just delete the unnecessary words from your statement:

"Women by themselves are taking a risk." Yup, as a woman, that is sadly how it feels sometimes.

Luckily, with Uber and Lyft you can get all of the driver's info through the app and you can see past history/ratings and the cops can immediately find them through that info.

As opposed to the taxi, where I guess you have to note down the license # as you're being assaulted?

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The problem is the phone and the human are not the same thing. The cops can immediately track down that phone, but that doesn't mean they will find the driver (or that the same person has been using that phone and car).

There are currently over 6,000 active licensees that will undergo the fingerprinting process. Drivers will be required to submit to fingerprinting as part of their annual renewal process.

http://bpdnews.com/news/2016/2/22/the-boston-police-department-announces...

So a Cab should have a photo ID of the driver displayed. There is also a cab medallion number that is prominently displayed. Ideally you would record this when you get in the cab. Without fingerprinting, it is not possible to be 100%.

I was fingerprinted for TSA Pre. It was a private contractor and it cost $85.

Women traveling alone should be safe, it is unacceptable that we are not.

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Tracked and monitored by the BPD? Right. When I get into a Lyft I think there is much more of an e-trail about who I got into a vehicle with and where, than if I hop into a taxi.

In my experience, the cabs are filthy, smelly (often that's the driver or his lunch), poorly maintained and frequently being driven by someone who is either not right in the head and/or hyped on speed for his very long shift. The driver's seat is usually so pushed so far back and tilted so far back that half the back seat is taken up by the driver. If you ask, they adjust it about a quarter of an inch. They will blast their music or more frequently, talk radio, from the speakers behind the passenger and act surprised or put out if I ask it to be shut off. Same with open windows (that they control) in winter. Sometimes the door handle was missing in the back so I couldn't get out freely. I never rode in a taxi on very frequent basis, but my experiences were horrible and only as a result of taking a cab out of necessity, not convenience. Lyft experiences have been SO much better. Also, with set fares, there's no incentive for "creative" routing to jack up the fare.

Re: "Women taking Uber by themselves after being at a club or bar or anywhere at night are taking a risk"?? That's Rape Culture and misogyny, not the fault of women existing and living or using Uber.

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