Former Uber driver who raped 77-year-old in Tarrant County is sentenced to prison
A former Uber driver who raped a 77-year-old passenger in 2017 before he dropped her off at her Fort Worth home has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
Hashem Ramezanpour, 43, of Dallas, pleaded guilty last month in a Fort Worth courtroom to a charge of aggravated sexual assault of an elderly person.
The attack occurred Oct. 22, 2017, in Tarrant County.
Ramenzanpour was driving for Uber, a popular ride-hailing service, when he picked up the victim in Dallas on Oct. 22, 2017, and began driving her to Fort Worth, authorities said.
Before arriving at her home, Ramezanpour stopped his car and sexually assaulted the woman, police said.
He then fled the country, but he was arrested in April 2018 at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.
Shortly after he was accused in October 2017, Uber officials said, “no person should ever have to go through.” such a violent act.
Ramezanpour’s Uber access was “immediately removed” from the app and he was permanently banned, officials said.
All Uber drivers undergo a criminal background check before they gain access to the app, according to the company.
The news of Ramezanpour’s sexual assault accusation came as a shock to one of his recent riders, Amanda Leboeuf, 34, of Dallas, who had an awkward encounter with him during a ride in March that ended up stretching into August.
“I just couldn’t believe it — it left me kind of baffled,” Leboeuf told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 2017. “You think you kind of can read people and then this happens and it’s kind of alarming.”
She said Ramezanpour provided her a ride on March 8, 2017, and then showed up at her work a few weeks later.
During another visit to her work in August, he asked for her telephone number, Leboeuf told the Star-Telegram.
This report contains information from Star-Telegram archives.
This story was originally published March 23, 2020 at 10:03 AM.
