Palo Alto police on Sunday arrested an Uber driver on suspicion of groping a female passenger and going to her house — uninvited.
The suspect, identified as Pedro Liborio-Anorve, dropped off the woman and her husband to their home near Los Trancos and Alpine roads around 11 p.m. Saturday. The couple, however, realized that they had forgotten a cell phone in the car and called the Redwood City man, requesting that he return it, according to police.
When the woman, who is in her 40s, came out of the house to retrieve the phone, Liborio-Anorve kissed her and fondled her breast, police said. The victim shoved the 35-year-old suspect off and ran into the house. While Liborio-Anorve drove away, the pair reported his misconduct to Uber.
But that wasn’t the last they heard of him.
Around 12:25 a.m., Liborio-Anorve called the woman and said he was outside the house. She told him to leave and called 911, police said.
"She immediately said, 'You need to go away' and called the police," Lt. Zach Perron said. "That’s when we got involved."
With help from Uber, officers were able to identify Liborio-Anorve and apprehend him, without incident, at his house on the 3400 block of Michael Drive just shy of 4 a.m. The suspect has been booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail and faces charges, including felony sexual battery and misdemeanor stalking.
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Uber provided a statement to NBC Bay Area, which said: "The behavior described is disturbing and is not tolerated on the Uber platform. The driver partner no longer has access to the Uber app. We have been working in cooperation with police and will continue to assist with the investigation."
People with more information about the crime are asked to call the Palo Alto Police Department’s 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be sent to paloalto@tipnow.org or to 650-383-8984.
