Abdoulaye Dia, of Lanham, Maryland, was identified as a suspect through data obtained from the Empower rideshare application after an underage teenage girl reported to hospital staff that her driver had raped her. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Dia's arrest on charges of first-degree rape, kidnapping, second-degree assault, and third-degree sex offense, and disclosed that Dia, a citizen of Guinea, had a prior sex abuse arrest in New York City and had entered the United States illegally.
Montgomery County police were called to the hospital on a Tuesday. The victim told officers that Dia drove her to a parking lot in Silver Spring, Maryland, where the alleged assault occurred. He was arrested Wednesday, one day after police responded to the hospital report.
Prior New York arrest
A DHS spokesperson told Fox News that Dia was arrested on June 10 in New York City on charges of sexual abuse by forcible compulsion, forcible touching of the sexual and intimate parts of another person, injuring a child less than 17, and sexual abuse without consent.
Immigration background
Dia entered the United States illegally through Arizona in December 2023. DHS said he was released by the Biden administration following that entry. Fox News Digital has reached out to Empower for comment.