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Uber driver accused of sex assault pleads not guilty

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  • COURTESY HONOLULU POLICE DEPT.

    Luke Wadahara

A 24-year-old Uber driver pleaded not guilty today to the sex assault of a 16-year-old girl in Makiki earlier this month.

Luke Wadahara entered the not guilty plea to two counts of first-degree sex assault and one count of first-degree attempted sex assault in Circuit Court this morning via closed-circuit video from Oahu Community Correctional Center. He is being held at the Kalihi facility, unable to post bail of $150,000.

An Oahu grand jury indicted Wadahara on April 22 for the alleged attack.

The victim said she and her friends used their cellphones to request an Uber ride from Ala Moana Center on April 17. A black Dodge Charger with the personalized license plate “SEXI” arrived, with Wadahara as the driver, a police affidavit said.

The girl’s friends were dropped off first in Mililani.

Instead of taking the victim to her home in Nuuanu, the suspect drove to Makiki and allegedly sexually assaulted her several times, the affidavit said.

The victim and her mother then found the suspect’s Uber driver profile and Facebook page and turned the information over to police.

Police located the suspect by tracing the registered owner of the black Charger and arrested Wadahara at his Kapiolani-area apartment.

His case was assigned to Circuit Court Judge Karen Ahn and is scheduled to begin the week of June 27.

Drivers for ride-hailing companies, like Uber, are not licensed, but are subject to a background checks and rider reviews. The Uber mobile app allows people with smartphones to submit trip requests, which are matched with Uber drivers who use their own cars to provide the rides.

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