Lyft Driver from Mount Vernon, NY Charged with Assaulting Passenger at Knife Point and Displaying Porn

Kristine BellinoPublished: December 4, 2021

FILE PHOTO: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 20: Air travelers wait in the ride share lot near a sign for Lyft at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on August 20, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Uber and Lyft drivers held a rally earlier at the airport calling for basic employment rights. An appeals court granted Lyft and Uber an emergency stay from needing to classify drivers as employees allowing ride-sharing services to continue after a threatened shutdown in California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

A Lyft driver is in jail facing multiple charges after allegedly showing pornographic material involving a child to a group of passengers and then, police say, pulling out a knife and sexually assaulting one of the passengers.

On Friday, December 3rd, 2021 27-year-old Manuel A. Nunez of Mount Vernon was taken into custody after New York State Police received a complaint on Thursday about a Lyft driver sexually assaulting the caller at knife point.

In a written release troopers allege that "...Nunez, working as a Lyft driver, picked up a party of four people for a scheduled transport. While driving, Nunez began displaying pornographic material on his cell phone in view of a child under the age of 17. Nunez then threatened the party with a knife and sexually assaulted one of the victims."

He is facing the following charges:

Sexual Abuse in the 1st Degree (felony)
Unlawful Imprisonment in the 1st Degree (felony)
Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 4th Degree
Menacing in the 2nd Degree
Endangering the Welfare of a Child

Nunez was arraigned at the Greenburgh Court and is now being held at the Westchester County Jail in lieu of bail. He is scheduled to appear in court top answer the charges on December 17, 2021.

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: This post is for informational purposes and is based largely on a release from the New York State Police. All persons are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. No additional information on the case is available at this time.]