THURSTON COUNTY, Wash. — The state has dismissed charges against a rideshare driver who was accused of kidnapping and raping a woman in Thurston County in June.
Ahmed Hassan Ali was charged with second-degree rape and kidnapping of an intoxicated woman in mid-June. Those charges against Ali were dropped on Sept. 30.
“After reviewing all of the evidence in this case including the dash camera, the State has determined it is unable to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt,” according to the state.
In June, Ali was arrested after witnesses told Thurston County Sheriff's Office (TCSO) deputies that they found Ali's vehicle parked near the Nisqually River with an undressed woman in the backseat while he was jumping into the driver's seat.
Probable cause documents state in the early morning hours of June 15, deputies responded to reports of gunshots and a black sedan driving away from the scene. When the sedan was stopped, deputies found the driver, identified as Ali, was bleeding heavily from his head and had "numerous lumps" on the front and sides of his head.
Ali allegedly told police was dropping off a woman when four men assaulted him, documents state. The men reportedly stole his phone and fled the area.
Documents said a different deputy had been called to a location on Sixth Avenue Southeast, where they found two men, one of whom said his girlfriend had lost her phone. The "Find my iPhone" app was showing them that the device was at that location.
Later, a woman who knew the victim told deputies they were at a bar when she ordered the victim an Uber ride home. The rest of the group went to another bar, and when the woman who spoke to TCSO arrived home, she realized the victim was not there.
The victim's father checked her location and saw she was near an address on Sixth Avenue Southeast. The woman went with the father and two other people.
She told deputies when they arrived, they saw the black sedan parked near the Nisqually River. When the woman opened the back door, she found the victim naked and the driver jumping from the back to the front of the vehicle, appearing to pull up his pants, documents state.
The group "reportedly assaulted" the driver while trying to get him away from the victim, which is why the driver was injured when he was contacted by the deputy.
Gunshots were fired during the altercation, but the driver was not hit, TCSO said. The driver was arrested.
A check of Uber app data showed the victim was marked as dropped off at an address that was not her residence. Data from the Life 360 app on the victim's phone showed the vehicle continued driving after the "drop off" point and eventually stopped at the location where she was found in the driver's backseat.
An Uber spokesperson previously sent KING 5 a statement in response to the investigation.
“The driver’s behavior is appalling and has no place in our society or on the Uber platform," the spokesperson said. "We take reports of this nature very seriously and removed the driver’s access to the platform as soon as we were made aware of the incident. We have a dedicated team standing ready to assist law enforcement with their investigation."
