ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — An Uber driver was arrested after he sexually assaulted a woman he picked up Wednesday morning, according to officials.
The St. Petersburg Police Department said Jose Antonio Canales Sanchez, 51, picked up the victim, 32, around 6:24 a.m.
Before they reached the victim's destination, Canales Sanchez allegedly pulled into a parking lot and climbed into the backseat where she was sitting. Police said he undressed her and inappropriately touched her against her will.
The woman was able to fight him off and escape.
Canales Sanchez was arrested the same afternoon and charged with sexual battery and false imprisonment. He was bonded out of the Pinellas County Jail around 1 a.m. Thursday morning.
"The reported details of this incident are disturbing, and this type of conduct is not tolerated on the Uber platform," a spokesperson for Uber said. "Reports like this are taken seriously at Uber, and we removed the driver’s access to the app as soon as this was reported to us. We are in touch with law enforcement regarding their investigation.”
ABC Action News is choosing to show his mugshot because, as an Uber driver, he had regular contact with the public, and the accusations made against him happened while he was on the job.
ABC Action News Mugshot Policy
When a mugshot is used
If the person is still on the loose and a potential threat to the community; if there is a good chance that showing the suspect would help identify additional victims or otherwise protect the public from a serious threat or if the crime or the suspect is of such a significant note that seeing them in a mugshot is in the greater public interest.
Using previous mugshots
Only if the story is specifically talking about that previous crime
We do not show mugshots of victims
This policy started in early 2021
