Officials with the Murfreesboro Police Department have arrested an Uber driver on charges that he raped a 22-year-old female customer on Halloween night.
The young woman left a party too intoxicated to drive herself home, but she did the right thing by calling for a ride.
Detectives said neighbors found her dumped in her front yard bloody and barely conscious.
"She was covered in blood and at some point received injuries during the Uber ride," said Sgt. Kyle Evans with the Murfreesboro Police Dept.
Detectives arrested 42-year-old Emmett Lyons, Jr. charging him with aggravated rape of a the woman on Halloween night last year.
"She left the party unharmed and she ended up at her home sexually assaulted," said Evans.
He said Lyons, Jr. deactivated his car GPS and drove to a remote area where he repeatedly raped the barely-conscious victim.
Evans said when Lyons, Jr. was finished he finally dropped the victim off at her home.
"Due to level of intoxication, he drug her out of the vehicle and threw her out onto the front lawn of the residence," said Evans.
The victim didn't remember a thing, but neighbors found her and rushed her to the hospital. A rape kit was done, and forensic evidence linked Lyons to the crime.
Some people weren't surprised. A criminal history provided by the TBI showed a long list of prior arrests - everything from drugs to assault, theft, driving on a revoked license, forgery and probation violation
Police say you can now add aggravated rape to the list.
"The driver used his authority as a driver to take advantage of an intoxicated young lady," said Evans.
Lyons Jr. has incriminated himself in statements to sex crimes detectives. He was being held on $100,000 bond at the Rutherford County Jail.
A spokesperson for Uber said Lyons was immediately fired after they learned of the charges. The company does do criminal background checks on all drivers dating back up to seven years. In this case, Lyon's arrests came prior to 2009. Uber has cooperated with police.
