Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg
A rideshare driver who lost control of her vehicle on Saturday, Jan. 31, crashing into another car and a building, said that her passenger assaulted her, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.
The incident happened around 1:45 a.m. in Little Havana near Southwest Sixth Avenue near Seventh Street. The woman, a driver for Uber, said that she was driving a man in her backseat when he allegedly covered her mouth and attempted to grope her.
The driver told police she had lost control of the vehicle in the struggle and crashed into another car and a building. Videos posted online after the fact show the mangled vehicles and damage to the building.
The second vehicle had at least two people in it. One passenger, Eva Alvarez, 71, was left with broken ribs and bruising, according to WSVN Channel 7 News.
“I think [the crash] saved her,” Alvarez told reporters.
The man, identified as Oscar Ernesto Sanchez Aguire, 26, ran from the crash and was later found by police. He was charged with battery and culpable negligence, The Miami Herald reported.
Another woman told WSVN reporters that she helped the Uber driver following the crash and was thankful no one was killed in the frightening incident.
“As a woman, you can’t just pull the breaks and like fight this guy,” she said. “It’s almost impossible. We cannot judge her for what happened …”
This comes after another Miami Uber driver, 61-year-old Nelson Carinao, was suddenly attacked by a passenger. That incident occurred on Jan. 2 when Carinao picked up a 19-year-old passenger with a planned route from Broward to Miami-Dade County. The passenger can be seen on dashcam footage repeatedly punching Carinao as he drove.
Carinao pulled over and got free before the attack continued briefly outside of his vehicle. The passenger then ran away and was later charged with battery and resisting an officer without violence, according to local media.
Carinao’s family took to social media following the attack, which left their father with “emotional scars” as well as physical wounds, saying the rideshare companies must do more to ensure the safety of their drivers.
“This is a wakeup call to Uber and Lyft to take better accountability for their drivers that work tirelessly to make ends meet,” the family said. “Please share to bring more awareness.”
Uber released a statement saying that they are “deeply disturbed by this senseless attack” and have since removed the passenger’s access to the ride-sharing platform.
Uber has yet to release a statement regarding the incident in Little Havana
Leesfield & Partners
As a personal injury law firm that has represented countless victims of assaults, car crashes, and corporate negligence over nearly five decades, Leesfield & Partners applauds the intent behind Uber’s new “Women Preferences” feature. Giving women greater control over who they ride with, or who enters their car, is a long-overdue response to well-documented safety concerns. It also offers survivors of sexual abuse and violence, particularly those coping with PTSD, a new possibility: to use the app in a way they may never have previously felt safe doing.
Our skilled trial attorneys have witnessed countless instances where the very systems and authorities entrusted with protecting our clients’ safety and well-being have failed them. In 49 years of personal injury practice, our attorneys have routinely represented victims and survivors of sexual assault with the compassion and knowledge of the law necessary to secure the best possible outcome in every case.
Our firm has achieved numerous record and landmark settlements and verdicts across the state, while actively supporting women’s and children’s initiatives that deliver vital services to victims and survivors of sexual violence.
In an ongoing case being handled by Partner Justin B. Shapiro and Evan Robinson, a Trial Attorney at the firm, a young girl has been left with psychological and emotional scars after she was sexually assaulted at a South Florida gym.
The man who assaulted her was a member at the facility with a known history of violent and erratic behavior. Still, the gym did nothing to limit the man’s access to the property, leaving our client and other members vulnerable to harm.
In another ongoing case led by Bernardo Pimentel II, a Leesfield & Partners Trial Attorney, a woman’s life has been upturned after learning that she and various other cruise passengers were filmed in their private cabin bathrooms by a crew member who planted hidden cameras.
That crewmember was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for creating child sex abuse material as many of the passengers who were filmed were children.
In a separate case being handled by Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Pimentel, a woman was held at gunpoint in her luxury apartment complex by a man who entered the building, unencumbered by security. The man had committed at least one other crime in the building that day before encountering our client who he forced back into her apartment where he terrorized our female client, her fiancé and a friend of the couple who was at the apartment that day. The three were held at gunpoint and forced to wire money to the gunman who pistol-whipped one of the men before taking our three clients downstairs where they were able to attract enough attention to scare off the gunman.
That case is ongoing.
Violence on the Apps
In an effort to increase safety, Uber previously announced that it was preparing to launch a feature that would allow women who drive with the company to select women passengers and vice-versa.
“At Uber, we believe that when we make our platform better for women, we make it better for everyone,” officials with the ride-sharing platform said in a statement. “Across the US, women riders and drivers have told us they want the option to be matched with other women on trips. We’ve heard them — and now we’re introducing new ways to give them even more control over how they ride and drive.”
Their “Women Preferences” feature has been similarly implemented by other companies like Lyft, which has operated with their version since at least 2023. In its 2024 Community Safety Report, which was published on July 11, 2024, Lyft officials said there were 23 fatal physical assaults and 2,651 “instances of the five most serious categories of sexual assault.” Lyft separated sexual assault in 21 categories with the help of RALIANCE, a national sexual violence prevention organization.
The “five most serious categories” as mentioned in the report included: Non-Consensual Sexual Penetration; Attempted Non-Consensual Sexual Penetration; Non-Consensual Kissing of a Sexual Body Part; Non-Consensual Touching of a Sexual Body Part; and Non-Consensual Kissing of a Non-Sexual Body Part. The sexual assault data released in 2024 shows a 21% decrease in incident frequency rate from the company’s previous report.
In August, Uber released a statement claiming that reports of “serious sexual assault” have dropped by 44%.
The company began publishing their U.S. Safety Report online in 2017 but has not published a full safety report since 2022. In 2022, Uber reported at least 20 fatalities from physical assaults. Uber’s 2022 data showed there were 212 reports of non-consensual kissing of a non-sexual body part, 182 reports of attempted non-consensual sexual penetration, 845 reports of non-consensual touching of a sexual body part, 191 reports of non-consensual kissing of a sexual body part, and 207 reports of non-consensual sexual penetration.
Previous Cases
Ira Leesfield, the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, and Trial Attorney Carlos A. Fabano obtained a confidential settlement on behalf four clients who were sexually abused as children by the same church official while they attended parochial schools.
Mr. Shapiro secured a $16 million settlement for a couple who were brutally attacked while staying as guests at a hotel. The assailant in that case viciously beat both victims. He also raped and sexually assaulted the wife.
Despite the hotel’s known history of violent incidents, management had disregarded repeated recommendations from both law enforcement and a private security firm to employ armed security personnel.
On the day of the incident, the attacker gained unrestricted access to the hotel due to the absence of basic safety measures, such as functioning locks or keycard-secured elevators. He went up to the couple’s floor, where he launched a violent assault—first attacking the husband, then brutally beating and raping the wife. Disturbingly, hotel staff and on-site security witnessed parts of the attack but failed to intervene.
Previously, the firm secured $8.6 million for a camper at a well-known Florida summer camp. A camp counselor in that case was later found to have been sexually abusing our minor client. The camp ignored clear warning signs, to the detriment of the child they were entrusted to protect.
Leesfield & Partners attorneys previously secured a confidential settlement for a child who was flying as an unaccompanied minor on an airline and meant to be under the care of flight officials. During the flight, the child was sexually abused by another passenger.
In a case involving multiple students who were sexually abused by a teacher at a prestigious Florida high school, the victims and survivors were paid multi-million-dollar reparations thanks to the work of Leesfield & Partners.
The firm represented a Canadian cruise ship passenger who was attacked and raped in her private cabin by a crew member. This crew member used his employee keycard to enter the woman’s room. A multi-million-dollar recover was obtained for the woman in that case.
A store clerk was awarded $1.13 million in a negligent security case at a shopping mall following an incident in which the clerk was robbed and brutally raped.
A hotel maid was raped while on the job by a man who was not a guest who roamed the property without being questioned. Leesfield & Partners secured a $1 million settlement for the woman.
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual abuse, you are not alone. Help can be found by calling the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
