Uber driver charged with raping a Santa Ana woman who was intoxicated

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Case # 17CF1023

Date: April 26, 2017

UBER DRIVER CHARGED FOR RAPE OF FEMALE PASSENGER

SANTA ANA, Calif. – An Uber driver was charged yesterday with raping a female passenger in Santa Ana.

Defendant/Charges/Maximum Sentence/Court Date

• Angel Sanchez, 37, Costa Mesa
• One felony count of rape of intoxicated victim
• Eight years in state prison
• Arraignment: May 1, 2017, 8:30 a.m. at Department C-55, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana

Circumstances of the Case

• On March 30, 2017, the victim was at a company gathering in Newport Beach.
• The victim’s colleagues requested an Uber ride for her from the gathering to the victim’s home in Santa Ana.
• At the time of the crime, defendant Angel Sanchez was a driver for Uber and is accused of picking up the victim in a 2016 gray Toyota Sienna.
• Sanchez is accused of driving the victim to a street near her residence in Santa Ana and sexually assaulting the victim in his vehicle while she was under the influence of alcohol.
• The victim ran from the defendant’s vehicle and immediately called 911 reporting that she was attacked.
• Santa Ana Police Department investigated this case and arrested Sanchez on April 1, 2017.

Prosecutor: Senior Deputy District Attorney Mena Guirguis, Sexual Assault Unit

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TONY RACKAUCKAS, District Attorney

Susan Kang Schroeder, Chief of Staff
Office: 714-347-8408
Cell: 714-292-2718

Michelle Van Der Linden,Spokesperson
Office: 714-347-8405
Cell: 714-323-4486