A rideshare driver accused of raping a teenage passenger in Silver Spring, Maryland, is an illegal immigrant from Guinea who was previously arrested in New York City on sex abuse charges, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Abdoulaye Dia has been charged with first-degree rape, kidnapping, second-degree assault and third-degree sex offense, DHS said.
Montgomery County police were called to a hospital on Tuesday after an underage teen girl reported being raped by a driver working for the rideshare company Empower. She told officers Dia had driven her to a parking lot in Silver Spring, where the alleged assault took place.
Investigators identified Dia using information obtained from the rideshare app, and he was arrested Wednesday.
Empower told Fox News Digital that all of its drivers go through background checks, sex offender checks, motor vehicle record checks and Social Security traces, and are vetted against the same global watchlist used by Uber and Lyft through the same screening provider.
“The background check, sex offender check, driving record check, social security trace, and global watchlist search on this customer were conducted on July 16, 2026, and did not reveal any incidents,” the company said.
Empower said Montgomery County police contacted the company about the incident and that Empower “immediately provided all information requested” after asking investigators what assistance it could offer.
According to a DHS spokesperson, Dia was previously arrested on June 10 in New York City on charges of sexual abuse by forcible compulsion, forcible touching of the sexual or intimate parts of another person, injuring a child less than 17, and sexual abuse without consent.
DHS said Dia entered the United States illegally through Arizona in December 2023 and was released by the Biden administration.
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