Metro Lyft Passenger Arrested For Sexual Assault

A metro Lyft driver led Oklahoma City Police to a man she alleged sexually assaulted her during a ride late Saturday night. The passenger, James McGuire, 49, was arrested in his hotel room the following morning.  

The Lyft driver picked up McGuire, who also goes by the name Corey, at Mickey Mantle’s restaurant in Bricktown. The driver told police McGuire immediately started making comments about her body and touched her on the shoulder. She could also tell he was very intoxicated.

“It made a more difficult situation for the woman to deal with,” said MSgt. Gary Knight, Oklahoma City Police Department. “Because he simply could not reason with him.”

During the ride, the driver alleged McGuire grabbed her breast and continued to touch her inappropriately. According to the police report, once they arrived at the hotel near Interstate 35 and Northeast 122nd where McGuire was staying, he begged the woman to come to his room and pulled her hair. The driver pushed him out of the car and called 911.

“With this type of work you are often times letting people into your vehicle that are complete strangers,” said Knight. “She did the right thing, she got to a safe location and called authorities immediately.”

  She was able to see what room McGuire went into and told police. 

“Officers went to his room, located him,” said Knight. “He was placed under arrest and booked into the Oklahoma County jail.”

Lyft released a statement on Monday regarding the incident.

"These allegations are deeply disturbing. From day one, the safety of the Lyft community has been our top priority. We have a strict zero-tolerance policy for this type of behavior, and have permanently deactivated the passenger. Our thoughts are with the victim, who we have been in contact with to extend our full support. We have also reached out to law enforcement to offer our assistance with an investigation.”