A rideshare driver accused of sexually assaulting an underage passenger in Maryland had been arrested three months earlier in New York City on sex abuse charges, raising urgent questions about background check systems that failed to flag the previous incident.
Abdoulaye Dia, of Lanham, Maryland, was arrested two days ago and charged with first-degree rape, kidnapping, second-degree assault and third-degree sex offense, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Dia is a citizen of Guinea.
The Assault and Arrest
Montgomery County Police officers were called to a hospital three days ago where an underage teen girl reported a rape. She told police she was raped by an Empower rideshare driver. Dia took her to a parking lot in Silver Spring, where the alleged assault occurred, investigators said. Police identified Dia through information obtained from the rideshare app and arrested him Wednesday.
A DHS spokesperson revealed that Dia was previously arrested on June 10 in New York City for sexual abuse by forcible compulsion, forcible touching of the sexual/intimate parts of another person, injuring a child less than 17 and sexual abuse without consent. The charges hadn't appeared in the company's screening system.
Background Check Failures
Empower said all its drivers undergo background, sex offender, motor vehicle and Social Security traces, and that they're vetted against the same global watchlist used by Uber and Lyft through the same screening provider. The company said, "The background check, sex offender check, driving record check, social security trace, and global watchlist search on this customer were conducted on July 16, 2026 and did not reveal any incidents."
That check came more than a month after Dia's New York City arrest. The timeline suggests a troubling gap in how arrest information flows between jurisdictions and private screening companies—a gap that left a teenage passenger vulnerable.
Empower also said Montgomery County Police reached out to the company and that it immediately provided all information requested. Fox News said it reached out to Empower for comment.
Immigration Status
DHS said Dia entered the United States illegally through Arizona in December 2023 and was released by the Biden administration. He'd been in the country for nearly three years when the alleged Maryland assault occurred.
Why This Matters:
This case exposes critical failures in the systems designed to protect rideshare passengers, particularly young women and minors who depend on these services for safe transportation. When a driver with pending sex abuse charges can pass a background check conducted weeks after his arrest, it reveals dangerous gaps in information sharing between law enforcement agencies and private companies. The victim, an underage girl, trusted a regulated service that promised vetted drivers. That trust was violated not just by an individual but by screening systems that didn't catch red flags already in the criminal justice system. For millions of passengers who use rideshare apps daily, this incident raises uncomfortable questions about whether current background check protocols are sufficient to prevent predators from gaining access to vulnerable riders. The fact that arrest information from one of the nation's largest cities didn't appear in a commercial database underscores the need for stronger regulatory oversight and real-time information sharing to close gaps that put public safety at risk.