BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — "Calm down, you're fine, you're drunk." Those were the words repeated to a woman as she screamed for help.
She thought she had done the responsible thing the night of May 6, 2019, by calling for an Uber to pick her up after a night of drinking.
The app told her to expect a black vehicle and when one approached she asked, "Are you my Uber driver?" The driver said yes.
Moments later the woman's night out would become a nightmare.
After taking an unexpected turn, the woman started to wonder where the driver was heading. She thought maybe "he knew a better way to get to her apartment or needed to stop and get gasoline," court documents said.
Moments later the driver pulled into a dark area and parked.
The woman screamed and fought to get out of the car. According to court documents, the doors seemed as if they were under "child lock," and she could not open them.
Eventually though, the door opened and the woman fell to her knees as the vehicle sped off.
This account is just one of many incidents recalled to police, alleging that a man posing as a rideshare driver attacked or stalked women. Court documents alleging that man to be 48-year-old Nassef Ragheb.
Ragheb is accused of multiple counts of false imprisonment, kidnapping and battery.
Court documents obtained by 23ABC show accounts from multiple women accusing Ragheb of these incidents. The court documents go all the way back to 2017 when three women reported Ragheb told them he was their Uber driver only to have an officer question him and discover he never worked for Uber.
On September 11, 2018, a woman reported she was alone in her apartment when she found a man standing in her living room. Police believe that man was Ragheb.
According to court documents, the woman told police someone was loudly knocking on her door that evening but she ignored them. She stated she called a family member as the knocking grew louder and louder.
A short time later the woman heard her front door open and when she went to check, she found a man standing in her living room. She said he told her that he "liked her" and "wanted to take her on a date," according to court documents.
The woman told police she did not know the man and believed if she panicked, he would assault her, the document said. The woman was able to convince Ragheb to walk outside with her and as he was standing in the doorway she attempted to slam the door closed.
Ragheb placed his foot in the doorway preventing it from closing, but he eventually left, court documents said. The documents said that Ragheb continued to return to the woman's home on several occasions.
She also reported at least 50 calls from an unknown phone number. She told officers she recognized the voice on the calls as Ragheb, according to court documents.
In another incident, a woman told police on September 28, 2019, she was given a ride by a man posing as an Uber driver. He told her he was not "her" driver but since he was there, she could switch drivers through the app.
According to the documents, when they arrived at her residence Ragheb told her she needed to pay him in cash then stated, "or you can pay me this way." The woman told officers Ragheb then grabbed her face and attempted to kiss her.
She was able to push him off and flee to her residence.
A similar incident took place on March 5, 2019, according to documents.
The woman in that case told police she was held against her will for almost a minute as Regheb allegedly attempted to kiss her. The woman was able to pick Ragheb out of a 6 photo lineup.
In another incident, a woman told police she had been picked up by a man, allegedly Ragheb, stating he was her Uber driver.
As they drove to the woman's home she received a notification from the app that her Uber driver was canceled. That's when she realized the man in the vehicle was lying.
She demanded the man pull over and let her out but he refused and continued driving for several miles, according to court documents. The woman told police the man then exited the vehicle and grabbed her, attempting to kiss her.
The woman said, according to court documents, she struggled with the man and tried to push him off. She eventually punched him in the face causing him to release her.
The woman and a witness were able to positively identified Ragheb as the driver who attacked her.
Police arrested him in February 2020 after he was seen looking into the windows of a home in the area of Brimhall Road and Jewetta Avenue.
He is due back in court on April 20.
