Maxime Fohounhedo charged in sex assault of Uber passenger

CHICAGO -- Maxime Fohounhedo, a former Uber driver charged in the sexual assault of a 22-year-old female passenger, is due in bond court Tuesday.

Police said the victim summoned Fohounhedo for a ride on Nov. 16 between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. using the ride-sharing app. The driver picked her up at a bar in Chicago's River North neighborhood. Police said the victim was allegedly sexually abused in the vehicle.

According to a police report obtained by DNAinfo, the victim claims she blacked out in the car. She told officers she woke up in an apartment in the 2600-block of West Lawrence Avenue in the city's Ravenswood neighborhood, where police said she was allegedly sexually assaulted.

The victim was later treated at Swedish Covenant Hospital.

Fouhounhedo, 30, of the 4400-block of North Lawndale Avenue, was charged with criminal sexual assault and criminal sexual abuse. Although ride sharing services keep a record of where drivers go, Fohounhedo was not arrested until more than a month after the incident.

The report raised questions about the safety of ride-sharing services. Users are divided on the issue.

"I don't think it's necessarily an Uber issue. It is scary. You have to be careful. Sometimes you can't control things that just happen. It's scary," Julia Frederick said.

"I just like the idea of a professional company being responsible versus just a random person," Alecia Evans said.

Ride sharing services like Uber and Lyft are required by the city and the state to commission private background checks on their drivers. However, the union representing cab drivers said those checks are not as thorough as the checks conducted on their members.