Arrest made in a pair of fake rideshare assaults in Brampton: police

Peel Regional Police say they have a suspect in custody in connection with three alleged sexual assaults across the Greater Toronto Area involving a fake rideshare driver.

Investigators say on Nov. 8, an 18-year-old woman was at a bus stop at Goreridge Crescent and Via Romano Way when a man in a vehicle approached her just before 8 a.m., said he was a rideshare driver and offered to drive her to wherever she wanted in exchange for a cash payment.

Police say the driver took the woman to an area near the Clareville Conservation on Highway 50 and Gore Road where he allegedly sexually assaulted her.

Then on Nov. 16, a 21-year-old woman was waiting at a bus stop near Airport Road and Humberwest Parkway around 6:45 a.m. when she was offered a ride by an unknown man. The driver then took her to the area of Countryside Drive and Airport Road, where he allegedly sexually assaulted her.

Investigators in York Region say a similar incident occurred in Vaughan and that the vehicle description provided in the Brampton incidents led them to believe that all three attacks are connected.

At the time, police said they were looking for a South Asian man with a medium to muscular build, approximately 20–25 years old with short black hair and a short black beard last seen driving a dark-coloured four-door sedan.

Police said in a social media post on Saturday night that an individual “believed to be responsible for violent sexual assaults has been arrested” adding that further details would be released in the “coming days.”