An alleged predator pretended to be a rideshare driver on the streets of Long Island. NBC New York’s Pei-Sze Cheng reports.
A Long Island man allegedly posed as a rideshare driver and sexually assaulted female passengers who fell asleep while he gave them a ride, police said — and the investigations took an even more disturbing turn after investigators searched his home.
Raul Guaman was initially arrested after breaking into a home in Brightwaters on Nov. 14 and sexually abusing a woman who lived there while she slept. Police pulled him over days later on Fifth Avenue in Bay Shore. While searching his phone during the arrest, what they found on his phone widened their investigation, as they saw that he allegedly had several more victims, police officials said.
Suffolk County’s acting police commissioner held a photo of Guaman during a press conference on Tuesday, and said the case has left him stunned.
"In my almost 37-year career, this is one of the most shocking cases I've ever seen, both due to the conduct of the defendant and the potential scope of this crime," said Stuart Cameron.
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According to Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini, police recovered videos from Guaman's phone that appeared "to show him sexually abusing a number of women who appear to be unconscious."
Police believe that the attacks inside cars were happening for years, with one video made in Jan. 2019. The victim later told police she didn't remember what happened, but woke up on Oak Beach, missing her phone.
When police search Guaman's Bay Shore home, they found 32 cellphones and 16 drivers licenses — all believed to be trophies taken from his victims, officials said. Police are now trying to identify the victims seen in the videos, and are trying to contact the owners of the cellphones and licenses.
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"The investigation is really very early on in its infancy, so we're not exactly certain what the full extent and scope will be, but it certainly seems like it's going to increase in magnitude," said Cameron.
