Man posing as rideshare driver arrested after raping two women in Miami, police say

A man posing as a rideshare driver frequented popular Miami nightclubs, looking for drunken women he could sexually assault, police said.

Yadir Alejandro Gongora, 39, is charged with sexual assault and kidnapping after being arrested Saturday in two separate cases. He is being held at the Metrowest Detention Center without bail.

In August 2023, a 22-year-old woman went to the Miami Police Department and told investigators that she had been sexually assaulted, but that she did not remember how it happened.

The woman and two of her co-workers had gone out for a night of drinking, taking an Uber to Candela, a bar in Brickell, according to a report. Later in the outing, her phone died and she was unable to find her friends.

So she decided to get out and remembers ending up in a vehicle, although she doesn't remember how she got inside, the report says. At some point, a man raped her while another man was driving the car.

The woman woke up, still inside the vehicle, nearly five hours later, the report said. At that point, one of the men asked her to go outside to a Publix, located at 134 SW 13th Street, the report said.

The grocery store was only two minutes from the bar.

In May, police received information — redacted in the report filed in court this week — that led them to Gongora. When police questioned him on Friday, Gongora claimed he did not know the woman and had never seen her before.

Gongora, however, said he was offering rides to people from clubs in Wynwood and downtown Miami, specifically mentioning E11EVEN Miami and Club Space, according to the report. Gongora claimed he worked for a ride-sharing app between 2017 and 2019, but then began giving rides to regular customers who contacted him.

A model of behavior?

A month later, in September 2023, a 21-year-old woman came forward after being sexually assaulted in a similar manner, a second report reveals.

The woman said she went out drinking and got separated from her friends. She had no memory of the night until she was dropped off near her home in the 16800 block of 67th Avenue NW.

She did not remember whether she or anyone with her requested a ride, but said she last remembered being near 900 South Miami Avenue, about 30 minutes from her home, the report said.

The woman said she noticed her underwear was in her purse, but her phone, wallet and camera were missing.

Gongora came into police's sights in May after they received information that was also redacted in the report. When Gongora was shown a photo of the victim, he told investigators something that was redacted in the report.

These carpool incidents are not the first time Gongora has been accused of sexual assault.

In October, Gongora was charged with kidnapping and sexual assault after police said he posed as an Uber driver and raped a woman he picked up at a Wynwood nightclub.

He was sentenced in May to two years of probation for armed robbery. The circumstances of that deal were unclear Monday night.