Dallas city officials are wanting answers from the popular ride-sharing service Uber after the CBS 11 I-Team discovered an Uber driver, accused of raping a passenger, used a fake Dallas city permit. Regardless, this case illustrates how trusting Uber to conduct its own criminal background checks amounts to allowing the company to decide whether or not to put this individual behind the wheel.
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Chammout has a criminal record, and served time in prison on federal weapons charges.
After a Dallas Uber driver allegedly assaulted a passenger, the ride-sharing company is sharing safety tips.
Sana Syed told The Dallas Morning News (http://bit.ly/1M3mcSd ) Monday that Talal Ali Chammout, a felon, wouldn’t have passed the city’s background check if he’d applied. On Tuesday, Uber spokeswoman Debbee Hancock said it’s doing an internal review of its permit auditing system.
Meanwhile Chammout remains behind bars on Monday in Dallas County jail on a $100,000 bail.
Syed said Uber should have verified that permit with the city’s online database. “Uber did”, said Dave Sutton, spokesperson for watchdog group ‘Who’s Driving You?’ at the time of that incident.
The flare-up of tensions between the city and Uber was the first since a spat at City Hall over an attempt to block the company from operating in the city – with influence from competitor Yellow Cab’s attorney – in 2013.
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Other drivers working for Uber in cities such as Philadelphia and Boston have been accused of rape by customers.
