Kevyn Rojas: Florida Lyft driver arrested for raping drunk Texas woman in backseat
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA: Kevyn Rojas, a Lyft driver from Florida, was arrested for allegedly raping a Texas woman during a ride from a bar to her hotel. The woman was enjoying an evening with a friend on Saturday night, February 26, at a Wynwood bar when she felt sick and started vomiting. She called a Lyft and Rojas arrived to pick her up in a Mitsubishi Galant.
At around 4:20 am on Sunday, February 27, she got into the car's back seat and said Rojas made a comment about her blue dress in Spanish. She fell asleep and woke up when they arrived at her hotel. The woman told the police that Rojas began to drive away, but after a while, the 26-year-old parked the car and hopped into the backseat while she was lying down. He then began pulling her dress and taking off her underwear against her will.
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She repeatedly told him no and tried to stop his sexual advances, but she was too intoxicated to fight him off, as per the reports. After several minutes, the driver stopped and dropped the victim off back at her hotel, where she called the police. Rojas was identified through the woman's Lyft trip history and city cameras located near her hotel. The reports state that the surveillance footage was consistent with the victim's statement.
Rojas has been charged with sexual battery on a physically helpless victim. As per records, he was arrested in 2020 for aggravated assault, but the charges were dropped. A judge set his bond at $500,000, ordering him to stay away from the woman and turn over his Colombian and United States passports. "He's a driver for a rideshare service. He allegedly picks up this victim, who was intoxicated and subsequently passed out in the back of his vehicle. The allegations are that he raped her. The state is requesting a $500,000 bond plus house arrest," the state prosecutor said at the hearing.
"You're not to drive for Lyft. I'm sure they won't have you anyway after these allegations," said the Judge. Rojas has now been permanently banned from using the Lyft app, a spokesperson for the ride-sharing company told the New York Post. "Safety is fundamental to Lyft, and the behavior described is appalling. The driver has been permanently removed from the Lyft community, and we stand ready to assist law enforcement with their investigation in any way we can," the statement read.