A 30-year-old Lyft driver is behind bars, accused of locking the doors of his car and attacking a 71-year-old woman after she refused his repeated requests for sex. Aman Kumar was arrested in Oakley last Monday and now faces charges of false imprisonment, sexual battery, and sexual conduct with intent to commit a sex crime, according to court records.
The alleged attack happened on June 26 in Emeryville, according to court records cited by The Mercury News. Police allege Kumar drove the woman to a supermarket and an ATM before heading toward her home, propositioning her repeatedly along the way and at one point asking her directly for sex. When she refused, police say Kumar locked the car doors, then reached under her shirt and groped her while she was inside the vehicle.
The woman fought back and managed to escape the car, then called 911, according to the newspaper's account of court records. Police said the attack occurred inside Kumar's vehicle in Emeryville. Lyft provided records that helped investigators identify Kumar as the woman's driver, according to court records, though the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent to its media email address.
Charges Carry Elder-Victim Enhancement
Kumar was formally charged last Tuesday, according to court records, and the charges include enhancements alleging the victim was vulnerable. Specifically, the false imprisonment charge includes an allegation that Kumar victimized an elder woman. Under California Penal Code § 236, misdemeanor false imprisonment carries up to a year in county jail, but the charge becomes a felony punishable by up to three years in prison when force or threats are involved, with additional sentencing enhancements under Penal Code § 368 when the victim is 65 or older, according to the Shouse Law Group.
The sexual battery charge Kumar faces also carries significant exposure. California Penal Code § 243.4(a) defines felony sexual battery as touching an intimate part of another person against their will while they are unlawfully restrained, a crime that carries a potential state prison sentence of two to four years and mandatory sex offender registration, according to Wegman & Levin. Charging records do not mention any prior criminal history for Kumar, who is a San Jose resident. He has a bail hearing scheduled for August 27 in Alameda County Superior Court, where a judge could approve his release.
Case Lands Amid Push for Tighter Rideshare Vetting
Kumar's case surfaces as California weighs whether current rideshare oversight goes far enough. Under existing California Public Utilities Commission regulations, platforms like Lyft must run national criminal database and DMV record checks on drivers, but state law does not require fingerprint-based background checks through the California Department of Justice, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office. That gap is central to a statewide ballot initiative cleared for signature gathering by the California Secretary of State in January, which would require rideshare platforms to conduct annual DOJ fingerprint background checks and publish monthly public reports on sexual assault and misconduct incidents, as Hoodline reported in its piece on the push for tighter rideshare rules.
Lyft has faced scrutiny over sexual assault reporting before. In its 2024 Safety Transparency Report covering 2020 through 2022, the company disclosed receiving 1,038 reports of sexual assault on its platform in 2022, following 714 in 2021 and 899 in 2020, according to research published by Taylor & Francis. An earlier Lyft Community Safety Report released in 2021 had disclosed 4,158 reports of sexual assault nationally between 2017 and 2019, including 2,300 instances of non-consensual sexual touching and 360 alleged rapes, per the San Francisco Public Press.
The company's in-app safety architecture includes tools like Smart Trip Check-in, designed to flag unusual route delays or unexpected stops, along with an integrated 911 emergency button and a 24/7 Critical Response Line, according to Lyft's own materials. Whether any of those automated monitoring tools flagged irregular stops during the June 26 ride remains an open question, and it is not yet clear whether prosecutors will pursue the elder-abuse enhancements under Penal Code § 368 that could substantially increase Kumar's potential prison exposure.
Case Moves Through Alameda County Courts
The Alameda County District Attorney's Office, which processes more than 40,000 criminal cases annually across nine court facilities and maintains dedicated victim-witness advocates for elder abuse and violent crime cases, according to the Office of the Alameda County District Attorney, will handle the prosecution. California is home to nearly 6 million adults aged 65 and older, and Alameda County agencies field thousands of Adult Protective Services reports each year addressing elder abuse and vulnerability, according to the county Board of Supervisors.
All criminal allegations against Kumar remain unproven pending judicial proceedings. His bail hearing on August 27 will determine whether he is released ahead of trial.
