Man allegedly raped woman in Miami Beach while posing as Uber driver

MIAMI BEACH – A 38-year-old northwest Miami-Dade man is accused of raping a woman he picked up in his car while posing as an Uber driver.

Claudel Lesperance is charged with sexual assault of a physically helpless woman and attempted kidnapping after he encountered the woman in an intoxicated state outside the Barrom Club on the corner of 13th Street and Collins Avenue.

Mindy Glazer, judge at the Miami-Dade District Court, said: “I do not believe this is an attempted kidnapping. There is also sufficient suspicion of sexual abuse. He picked her up at a club, she is drunk and he cancels her Uber ride. He tells her he is an Uber driver and there is DNA confirmation.”

Judge Glazer ordered Lesperance to stay away from the victim and have no contact with her in this case. He was held without bail.

According to a police report, the incident occurred on February 9. The victim told police that she felt sick after consuming alcohol.

She said she asked for confirmation that the driver worked for Uber and he said he did. He later told her he worked for the Barroom Club. She lost consciousness and was raped. She also said the driver took $20 in cash from her and threw her out of the car.

She said the target is the International Language Campus nearby on Collins Avenue.

According to police, the suspect was caught on surveillance video watching him and appeared to be “fixated on her.” They put a lot of work into tracking the suspect and used surveillance video to track him and his car.

In court, his lawyer Jeff Robinson said: “The affidavit shows that the defendant was conscious on and off. As far as her memory and recall goes, I don’t know how bad it was.”

Robinson said: “Mr Lesperance is married and has four children. His last attack was over ten years ago and was not violent. There is no indication that he has ever done anything like this before. This is totally out of character for him and his whole family was shocked to learn of it.”

Robinson and Lesperance’s wife told CBS News Miami’s Peter D’Oench they had no comment.

Meanwhile, tourists and parents on South Beach expressed alarm over the allegations.

Anna Huber, a tourist from Germany, said: “I think this is terrible. I feel sorry for her.”

Cheryl Drezek, a tourist from Orange, Connecticut, said: “I think it’s sad, tragic and unfortunate. I always tell my daughter never to do anything alone, to watch her drinking, to stay together in bars and not to go out alone, always in pairs.”

That’s the only thing you can do to protect yourself. They have fake IDs.”