Uber driver charged in violent sexual assault of passenger in DC

WASHINGTON - An Uber driver accused of sexually assaulting a passenger last month in D.C. was arrested Wednesday.

D.C. police have charged 32-year-old Selvin Danilo Chocooj with assault with intent to commit first-degree sexual abuse.

Police say the reported incident happened at around 4 a.m. on Dec. 10 in the 400 block of East Capitol Street in Southeast D.C., about four blocks east of the U.S. Capitol.

FOX 5 spoke exclusively to the victim a few days after the terrifying experience. Gemicka Clark said she was with friends in the city when an Uber was requested for her to head home. During the ride, she said she nodded off but woke up to the Uber driver fondling her and trying to remove her pants.

Clark said she was strangled and punched in the face during a struggle that lasted for several minutes. However, she was able to get out of the car and run away. She was treated at a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

However, she was able to help police track the suspect down by providing them with a first name and photo from an emailed copy of her Uber receipt. She also used that information to find him on social media.

"You don't forget someone who has made up their mind to kill you," Clark told FOX 5. "He's on Facebook, I found him on Facebook myself. He has the same Uber picture as he does as one of his profile photos. And he actually has the nerve to have two daughters."

According to an arrest warrant, police tracked down Chocooj's car he was allegedly driving during the night of the reported assault as well as Chocooj himself. But when officers tried to ask him some questions at an apartment on Marcy Avenue in Oxon Hill, the 32-year-old man went back into the apartment, jumped off the third-story balcony and got away.

It remains unclear why it took more than a month after the reported assault for police to arrest Chocooj.

FOX 5 reached out to Uber and the company said Chocooj's access to the ride-sharing app was removed once the investigation began.

Chocooj is scheduled for preliminary hearing in D.C. Superior Court on Jan. 25. Clark said she plans to be there in attendance.