Muslim Uber driver charged with raping woman

Omar Mahmoud Mousa, an Uber driver, has been charged with raping a 21-year-old female passenger.

A Muslim working as an Uber driver is suspected of raping a woman at an Anaheim motel after giving her a ride from a Fullerton bar.

Police believe there may be more victims and are asking for the public’s help in finding them.

Omar Mahmoud Mousa, 52, of Anaheim was arrested on a $100,000 bond and assigned a court date of April 8 to face felony charges of rape, forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by foreign object. The alleged rape occurred Oct. 25, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, but Mousa had been out of the country until recently. He was arrested March 7 as he disembarked from a plane landing at Los Angeles International Airport.

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Authorities were not saying what country he had traveled to or whether he was a native-born American, a naturalized citizen or some other status.

Uber issued a statement that read: “Uber has a zero-tolerance policy for violent behavior, and our thoughts are with the victim of this atrocious crime. We immediately blocked this individual’s access to the Uber platform upon learning of this incident and actively assisted law enforcement in their investigation."

Prosecutors said Mousa was working as a driver for Uber when he picked up a 21-year-old woman and her female friend at their Anaheim motel room and drove them to a bar five miles away in Fullerton, the Orange County Register reported.

Mousa gave the women his business card and told them to call him directly when they planned to leave, rather than going through the Uber app, authorities said.

Several hours later, one of the women called Mousa and he gave them a ride back to their motel, helping them into their room, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said the victim's friend immediately passed out on the bed, and Mousa placed the victim on the same bed as her friend. The woman was intoxicated, prosecutors said, but told Mousa "no" multiple times as he raped her before she managed to push him away. She contacted police later that day.

Faisal Mohammad

This is the third Muslim-related attack to rock California in the past few months.

On Nov. 4 Faisal Mohammad, an 18-year-old freshman at UC-Merced, launched a knife attack on four people at the university before he was shot and killed by a campus police officer. The FBI announced Thursday that Mohammad had pro-ISIS propaganda on his laptop and had visited other "extremist" websites prior to the attack. The FBI said he was "self-radicalized."

Syed Farook

One month later on Dec. 3, Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, launched a jihadist attack on an office Christmas party in San Bernardino that killed 14 people and injured several others. They were also "self-radicalized," according to the FBI.

Now comes the alleged sexual assault by Mousa, although police, along with local and national media, have played down the Muslim connection.

If convicted, Mousa faces up to 24 years in prison.

Authorities are asking anyone who might be a victim of Mousa to contact Senior District Attorney Investigator Mark Gutierrez at 714-347-8794.