Malden Uber driver arrested for allegedly exposing himself to female in Everett
The 28-year-old man, who has been banned from the platform, is accused of a similar incident in Boston.
A Malden Uber driver was arrested Sunday after allegedly exposing himself to a female in Everett, police said in a statement.On Sunday, a female reported that a man in a gray Dodge Caravan had exposed his genitals to her, according to the statement. She gave officers a description of the suspect and a license plate number. Police said the female had previously reported a similar incident with the same suspect and vehicle in Everett.
Later that day, police said they spotted the minivan traveling on Ferry Street near Glendale Park and stopped the vehicle. As officers approached, the minivan abruptly accelerated and drove into oncoming traffic, according to police.
The vehicle then turned onto a dead end street and the suspect started to run away on foot, police said. Paul J. Griffin, 28, was arrested after a brief foot chase, according to the statement.
Griffin was not carrying any passengers at the time of his arrest, police said. He was charged with open and gross lewdness, lewd and lascivious conduct, failure to stop for police, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, and resisting arrest.
Griffin, who started driving for Uber in September 2014, is also the subject of an open case charging him with open and gross lewdness, according to Suffolk District Attorney spokesman Jake Wark. He was arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on March 26 after allegedly exposing himself to two women, who were not passengers, near Downtown Crossing.
Griffin’s lawyer in that case, Mehmet Baysan, told The Boston Globe his client has denied the March allegations.
Susan Hendrick, a spokeswoman for Uber, said that Griffin has now been banned from the platform as his actions were “in clear violation of our community guidelines.” She told the Globe the company was not made aware of the previous allegations in March.
She added that Uber was assisting police in the investigation and the company had not received reported feedback about Griffin suggesting any sexual misconduct before the incident.
Griffin was arraigned in Malden District Court on Monday. According to Globe, he was held without bail after a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf.
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