Photo: Brandon Sherman
SAN MATEO – A victim reported a violent sexual assault by a supposed Uber driver on August 14. The 7 p.m. attack occurred near the 1400 block of Fashion Island Boulevard.
The suspect picked the victim up in a car with Uber and Lyft stickers on the windshield. The pick-up happened at State Route 92 and Grant Street. The suspect then drove her to “a secluded area and sexually assaulted her.”
The victim escaped and secured the help of a passerby, who called the police. An investigation immediately began.
Surveillance footage from a nearby business gave investigators a picture of the vehicle – a gray Toyota hatchback. Detectives obtained a search warrant for Uber and Lift records where they went through 1,100 suspect vehicles in order to determine five potential leads.
Eventually investigators “developed a profile,” and the identified their suspect – 40-year-old Brandon Sherman. The victim positively identified Sherman as her attacker.
On October 25 at 9:20 a.m. detectives and officers arrested Sherman in a traffic stop. He was driving the Toyota Matrix that he used in the attack.
Investigators also served a search warrant at Sherman’s home in the 700 block of Calero Avenue in San Jose where additional evidence was gathered.
Subsequently, detectives charged him with kidnapping, rape and assault with a deadly weapon.
