SEATTLE (AP) — A 34-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of raping a Seattle woman who thought he was her Uber driver.

The arrest was made Wednesday after the King County Sheriff’s Office shared images on social media taken from surveillance video.

A judge on Thursday found probable cause to hold the man and ordered him held in lieu of $750,000 bail. The man’s name hasn’t been officially released yet, pending formal charges.

Police say the woman was raped Dec. 16 after she left a Seattle bar to catch an Uber that had been ordered by her friend.

The sheriff’s office says a man in a black vehicle led her to believe he was her driver before pulling the car over and raping her. Abbott said a relative saw a photo on television news and told the suspect that he was being investigated for rape.

Police say he claimed he thought the woman consented to sex, but he acknowledged she was intoxicated.

Safety advocates advised that ride-sharing services will send a description of a vehicle, its license tag number and a photo of the driver. They recommended passengers check the information before getting inside a vehicle. They also suggest requiring the driver to give the name of the person requesting the ride as an extra level of safety.

 

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