The Mail Tribune reports that Antonio Gonzalez-Salinas, an Uber driver in Medford, OR, faces felony charges of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree sexual abuse, and first-degree rape. The 51 year-old Gonzalez-Salinas allegedly sexual assaulted a female passenger he picked up early on the morning of Sunday, February 9th 2020 according to a Medford police news release.
Gonzalez-Salinas faces an additional misdemeanor charge of public indecency. According to police, the 21 year-old victim had been in downtown Medford with a group of friends Saturday night. After some drinks, her friends called for an Uber to take her to another friend’s house in East Medford and at 1:29 a.m. on Sunday, Gonzalez-Salinas arrived in a black Lexus with the license plate VOLRIS.
The victim’s friends learned she never arrived at the other friend’s house, and after multiple unsuccessful attempts to call the victim’s phone, Gonzalez-Salinas answered. He told one of the friends that he was having trouble finding the destination.
The friends contacted a family member, who according to police, used an app to track the woman’s phone to a spot two blocks from the destination at 2:07 a.m. The family member and two other people followed the ping to the location and spotted the Lexus parked on the street at 2:30 a.m.
When they arrived, the woman found in the passenger seat of the Lexus. She was crying and clearly upset. At that point, Gonzalez-Silenas fled. When the woman told her friends and family that she had been sexually assaulted, they called the police.
On Tuesday February 11th, Medford police detectives arrested Gonzales-Silenas without incident at his home. They found the victim’s phone and seized other items, including the Lexus.
Police are working with Uber as part of its investigation and Uber may be able to provide geolocation data according to the Medford police chief. Gonzalez-Salinas remains in jail and his bail is set at $360,000.