Queens Lyft Driver Convicted Of Sexually Assaulting Passenger: DA

FLUSHING, QUEENS — A Lyft driver was convicted of sexually assaulting a passenger who fell asleep in his car during a ride home, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

A jury found Corona resident Welinton Fernandez, 31, guilty of a criminal sexual act and sexual abuse for the January 2018 assault following a four-day trial, according to the Queens district attorney's office.

Prosecutors say Fernandez picked up the 28-year-old woman just before 5 a.m. at a Flushing bar, and she fell asleep during the four-mile trip back home. The woman later woke up to her driver sexually assaulting her and dashed out of the car, according to prosecutors.

The next day, she went to the hospital, where a forensic examiner recovered the driver's DNA on her body, prosecutors said.

"In this case, the victim had taken the precaution of using a ride-sharing app to take her directly from Point A to Point B to insure her safety," Acting Queens District Attorney John M. Ryan said in a statement. "She had no way of knowing that her driver was a predator who took advantage when she fell asleep on the ride home and sexually forced himself on her."

Fernandez faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced on Dec. 10, prosecutors said.