A man who is accused of posing as an Uber driver and sexually assaulting a Quinnipiac University student in Hamden in January is due in court on Tuesday.
Ahmad Bahjat, a 29-year-old Iraqi refugee, has been charged with sexual assault, kidnapping and unlawful restraint.
The warrant for his arrest says the Quinnipiac University student got into Bahjat’s car on Jan. 31 because she believed he was an Uber driver and he sexually assaulted the woman in the backseat of his Nissan Sentra in an apartment parking lot in Hamden.
The victim told detectives “She attempted to get out from under him, but he overpowered her” and “she told him “No”, “Stop” and “Get off” numerous times, but he did not.”
While the victim was at Yale-New Haven Hospital, she logged into her Gmail account to see if she purchased an Uber ride, but did not see any transactions or receive a receipt, according to the warrant.
The QU student left her phone in the car after Bahjat eventually dropped her off near Quinnipiac's main campus and police used an iPhone locator app to track it down.
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State police identified Bahjat as the suspect because of a parking decal in the car from Southern Connecticut State University, according to court documents.
After the attack, Bahjat fled from the United States, police said. He went to Toronto, Canada, then to Turkey and Jordan before returning to the United States.
When he returned, Customs and Border Protection authorities detained him.
Bahjat is being held on a $500,000 bond.
His case was transferred to a New Haven court and he is scheduled to appear today.
He has not entered a plea, according to online court records.
