Claudio Andres Vizcarra appears in photographs from an affidavit in support of an arrest warrant for two separate sexual assaults in Washington, D.C. last year.
A Maryland man has been arrested for allegedly posing as an Uber driver in order to prey on women and sexually assault them.
Claudio Andres Vizcarra, 45, stands accused of one count of sexual abuse in the first degree, and one count of misdemeanor sex abuse, according to Washington, D.C. court records reviewed by Law&Crime.
An affidavit in support of an arrest warrant alleges that in April 2022, a woman needed a ride home “after drinking with friends at the Sauf Haus Bier Hall” on 18th Street NW in the nation’s capital. By the time she was ready to leave the bar, the affidavit says, “her friends had all gone home.” The woman told police that one of her friends had tried to get her an Uber but that three drivers canceled the fare in a row.
Eventually, the first woman told police, the defendant pulled up in a “newer model Toyota Camry” and asked her if she needed a ride.
The woman said she accepted the offer and got into the back seat of the car. Vizcarra, however, allegedly asked the woman to get in the front with him “because he needed to pick up other rideshare passengers.” She told police she obliged and got in the front.
After that, she told police, the defendant drove around for a few minutes, and stopped in front of what she described as an “older looking white painted brick apartment building.” First, the woman said, Vizcarra began fondling her breasts. She tried to fight back, she said, but her assailant was too strong and “overpowered her.”
The affidavit then goes on to graphically describe a lengthy series of additional sexual assaults allegedly perpetrated by Vizcarra.
The woman took a picture of her attacker, which is contained in the affidavit, but he mostly covered his face with one of his hands. Police, in the arrest affidavit, said the defendant’s “large ears and hairline” visible in that photo are “very similar” to multiple pictures of Vizcarra in his driver’s license and mugshots.
After the attack, the woman said, the defendant drove her to her apartment and drove off – either toward Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia or the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial.
During the entirety of the attack and then after during the ride home, she said, her attacker didn’t say a word and smelled like cigarettes.
In October of last year, a second woman told police that she left a Halloween party and requested an Uber but quickly canceled the ride once she realized “how far away one was from her location.”
A similar story followed.
The second woman said the defendant pulled up and offered her a ride, claiming to be an Uber driver. Then, she said, the driver asked her to move to the front of the white four-door vehicle “because he was picking up additional passengers.” The second woman complied with that request and the car drove off. Vizcarra, she said, then pulled over, told her she was beautiful, and “began to touch her inner left thigh.” She said she pushed his hand away but then he kissed the outside of her mouth – to which she told police she was “unreceptive.”
After the unwanted touching and kissing, the second woman told the defendant she had a boyfriend and began texting a witness, according to the affidavit. Then, she stayed on the phone with the witness for the duration of her ride home. As she arrived, a group of her friends came into the street – allegedly prompting the defendant to complete a quick U-turn just after she got out of his car. One of her friends, it turned out, was able to photograph the vehicle’s license plate.
When confronted by police about the picture of a man holding his hand in front of his face, Vizcarra allegedly told a detective that he had not been a driver for Uber in “approximately” two years. He then allegedly directed any additional questions to his attorney.
Police said they recovered DNA from the defendant by way of a buccal swab – an image of that procedure being performed is contained in the affidavit. According to that document, Vizcarra’s DNA matched DNA recovered from the first woman’s clothes.
[images via affidavit]
