Monday, October 3, 2016

On The Run

Samuel Texidor:  Do not accept a ride from this man ladies

Of course you have to wonder if Samuel Texidor took an Uber ride to wherever he is now hiding out.

In Eastern Hampshire District Court this morning the Commonwealth asked for and immediately received an arrest warrant for Mr. Texidor after he cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet and flew the coop.

Since his arrest for sexual assault on a UMass student last month Uber has upgraded their security by having drivers take a selfie when they first log on for the night making it a tad harder to pull a Texidor and pose as one in order to prey on young women.

UPDATE 3:00 PM from the DA's office:

He was not a fake Uber driver, but a real Uber driver using a fake identity in order to make age requirements. He is 18 and you must be 21 to be an Uber driver.  That was discussed at the dangerousness hearing.

At a dangerousness hearing, a judge must make two findings (two prongs):

1. Probable cause that defendant is dangerous 2. Clear and Convincing evidence that no conditions of release will protect the victim and/or community

In this case, the Commonwealth asked that he be detained. The Court found him dangerous (prong 1) but also found there were conditions of release that could protect the community/victim. Just because one is found dangerous, does not mean they will be held (which is why there is a second prong).

He was released on GPS with house arrest, SA/NC from victim, SA from Amherst, cease Uber employment.

Update 10:00 PM
Perp was arrested in Holyoke.  

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You shoulda called this one Turd on the Run, to keep with your '60s song title headlines. Just a thought.

Anonymous said...

Killer on the road- if you give this man a ride- sweet memory will die- also when drunks drive DWI ....!!!!$&@

Dr. Ed said...

I know both the gaslight crowd and the mASSgop will come after me for this (and they are probably the same folk).

I you are using someone else's identity to obtain employment you can't legally have, you are a criminal and ought to be treated as such.

Where the hell was the APD (and to a much lesser extent, the UMPD)?!? A competent police department would know ALL the merchants in it's town -- in part because of community policing and in part because of outreach to the merchants.

In a town as small as Amherst, the APD ought to have had a pretty good idea who was driving for Uber -- and at 4AM, when you are desperately trying to stay awake, you punch the names through the computer, never expecting to find anything.

(95% of police work is utter boredom -- but without it, you don't get the other 5%....)

If an underaged driver was able to drive for Uber, there are some serious breakdowns that happened, and a selfie isn't going to solve this because what if the issue were the status of the driver's license?

Larry, this is more serious than UM students having a loud party. Think like the father of daughters before you disagree.

So where has the APD been investing its manpower?

Anonymous said...

Theres no way for APD to know who's driving in town on what night because Uber doesn't even know until it happens. Drivers start and stop driving as they please. They're in and out all day, some of them. And they're not relegated to one spot. They can pick someone up in Amherst, drive them to Northampton, pick someone up there and take them to Hatfield. In and out of 3 different towns and by the time APD knows who's driving in Amherst they are gone. Many young people feel more comfortable with the average Uber driver than the average taxi driver. Uber has had to learn as they go when it comes to safe and responsible drivers and how to make sure when someone gets in a car it all goes well. There's also been a learning curve when it comes to regulation. The tech arrived before the laws. They're getting there.

Uber has made Amherst safer on the weekends. Busses aren't as packed, bus stops less crowded, less students walking and making noise on the streets and the students are less likely to drive drunk if they can whip out their phone and have a car come to their exact location in 5 minutes for a total of $8. That fare, by the way can be split easily in the app among all their friends. And that's the other thing-no cash. All you need is your phone.

Here's another aspect of Uber that's good for Amherst-supplemental income for people who work part time and often are retired. I've taken a few Uber rides in Boston, and in talking to some of the drivers that's the category many fall into. So some 65 year old can spend his Saturday shuttling kids around Amherst, and make a decent amount of money. Economically, its an interesting case.

Anonymous said...

For safety, Uber riders need to set up all their rides through the Uber app (Legit Uber drivers do not hang out at locations asking people if they want a free ride)

Anonymous said...

If you use Uber be ware, all the scumbags already work there. Think about it, young women free for the taking. People leave this idiot idea (Uber) by the road side take the bus or a cab.

As you see in this case the courts will not help you.