An Uber driver is facing criminal charges after a woman told officers she was sexually assaulted by the driver, according to a Boynton Beach police report.
Aleksey Gafanovich, 47, was arrested Thursday on a sexual assault charge, nearly one year after the alleged attack.
The woman told officers on Feb 25, 2017 that her Uber driver sexually battered her while he was supposed to drop her off around 2 a.m., the report states. She said she took an Uber with two of her friends after out celebrating and drinking for her 21st birthday.
Gafanovich, who was the driver, dropped her friends off at their respective addresses and then asked her if he could stop to smoke a cigarette, an officer wrote in the report. She said she agreed because she wanted to smoke as well.
That’s when she said Gafanovich touched her without her consent. She was taken to the hospital and a forensic examination was conducted.
Officers reported speaking with Gafanovich in March and he denied the allegation. He said he remembered the victim being under the influence, the report states.
In April, officers took Gafanovich’s DNA. The laboratory report was returned on Jan. 30 which said that Gafanovich “cannot be excluded as a contributor” from the evidence. A test reported the match as equivalent to approximately 1 in every 1,773 individuals.
Gafanovich, who is listed as a Ukrainian citizen, appeared before a Palm Beach County judge Friday morning. He was ordered to not have contact with the victim, any Uber, nor use Uber for business.
He is being held at the Palm Beach County Jail on $250,000 bond.
