DoorDash driver assaulted during delivery, Florida cops say. Then her family saves her
Detectives are searching for a man who they say pointed a gun at a DoorDash driver while she was making a delivery and sexually assaulted her, Florida police said.
The driver and her girlfriend were speaking on the phone as the attack occurred, leading the girlfriend and family members to spring into action to save her, according to police.
Just after 11 p.m. on Tuesday, April 18, the DoorDash driver, a woman in her early 20s, was making a delivery at a Residence Inn in Tampa when a man with a gun approached and forced her back into her car, according to a news release from the Tampa Police Department.
The woman was speaking to her girlfriend through her AirPods at the time, the release says.
The girlfriend “quickly realized that a robbery was occurring,” the release says. The driver’s family then called the police, and officers went to the hotel.
After the man forced the driver into her car, he made her drive to an apartment complex about 7 miles from the hotel, where he “sexually battered her,” according to police.
Meanwhile, the woman’s girlfriend and family members of both women tracked the driver’s phone to the apartment complex. Family members rescued her from the car as the suspected attacker fired multiple shots at them, police said.
A family member of the driver’s girlfriend was struck, according to police. Both she and the driver were taken to a hospital with injuries that weren’t considered life-threatening.
The suspect fled the scene.
DoorDash spokesperson Julian Crowley said in a statement to McClatchy News that the company was “appalled by this heinous and abhorrent crime.”
“No one should ever have to endure something as horrific as this and we’re here to support the Dasher in any way we can,” the statement says. “We’ve reached out to the Tampa Police Department to assist their investigation and we hope the perpetrator is brought to justice.”
The company also shared some of its safety features, including a button drivers can use in the app that will have a security agent contact 911. In addition, the company checks in with drivers if a delivery is taking longer than expected and will contact 911 if the driver says they are unsafe or does not respond.
Police shared a composite sketch of the man on April 20 and asked for the public’s help identifying him.
Sgt. Andrea Hughes with the Tampa Police Department said during a news conference recorded by Fox 13 that the attack was a “crime of opportunity.”
“He has not only traumatized this victim physically but also psychologically,” she said.
In a statement, Tampa Interim Police Chief Lee Bercaw said that the suspect has “no regard for human life.”
“I am urging anyone who may have seen or heard something nearby to please call us with those details, no matter how minimal they may seem to be,” the statement says. “It could be the information we need to arrest this criminal before he’s able to hurt another member of our community.”
Those with information can call the Tampa Police Department at (813) 231-6130, according to the release.
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