Uber driver arrested on suspicion of raping passenger in Fontana, police say

Police in Fontana arrested an Uber driver on suspicion of raping a passenger Sunday.

The woman passenger told investigators that she had been drinking with friends and requested a ride to a home in Fontana. At some point, she either fell asleep or passed out in the vehicle, and she awoke to the driver assaulting her, the Fontana Police Department said in a news release.

The driver, Alonso Calle, 32, later called police and said he had consensual sex with a passenger in his car at McDermott Park, authorities said. He told police the woman was “very intoxicated” but said she offered him sex, investigators said.

Calle was arrested on suspicion of rape and booked into the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

Uber banned Calle from the ride-hailing app after his arrest and is cooperating with law enforcement, said Navideh Forghani, a spokeswoman for Uber Technologies Inc.

“What the rider reported to police is extremely disturbing and has no place in our community,” Forghani said.

Calle’s arrest comes days after prosecutors in Orange County charged an Uber driver with two felony counts of sexual penetration and two misdemeanor counts of sexual battery. That driver is accused of repeatedly assaulting an intoxicated woman he had picked up at the Tustin police station in July 2018.

Last month, Uber released an 84-page safety report revealing that in 2017 and 2018, nearly 6,000 total reports of sexual assault were made, including 464 allegations of nonconsensual penetration or rape, 587 reports of attempted rape and 3,000 complaints of nonconsensual touching of a sexual body part.

In April, three Los Angeles County women who say they were sexually assaulted by predators who posed as Uber drivers filed a lawsuit against the San Francisco company alleging it didn’t do enough to protect them.

The ride-hailing company has announced several additions to its app focused on providing support to passengers and drivers during crises, including the ability to text local police departments, a four-digit PIN to verify a passenger is in the right car, and an experiment that allows the company to record and review audio during a trip.

Times staff writer Johana Bhuiyan contributed to this report.