Cabbie Used Pokémon Go To Lure Passenger In Alleged Sex Assault

PALATINE, IL — A cabbie is accused of sexually assaulting an intoxicated passenger he picked up at bar last summer, according to the Daily Herald.

Muhammad Mahmood, 39, of Palatine, was charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping. He is being held on $2.5 million bail, and his next court date is April 13. If convicted on all counts, Mahmood faces 12 to 60 years in prison.

On July 23, 2016, a 25-year-old woman hired Mahmood's cab to take her home from a Palatine bar at about 12:30 a.m., the report stated. During the ride, Mahmood asked the woman if she played the popular mobile game Pokémon Go, the report added.

When the woman said she did, Mahmood drove the two to Volkening Lake in Schaumburg, where Mahmood said a good PokeStop was located, the report stated. At the lake, the woman got in the front seat of the cab, and the two began playing the game together, the report added.

Eventually, Mahmood forced the woman into the back seat and attacked her, the report stated. Mahmood then left the woman in the parking lot at the lake, and she called the friend who helped her into Mahmood's cab, as well as her sister, who called 911, the report added.

Police arrested Mahmood on Tuesday, March 21, after DNA found on the woman matched the cab driver's, the report stated. Mahmood was required to give his DNA as part of a separate 2016 conviction for aggravated battery in Lake County, the report added.

As part of the current case, Mahmood was ordered not to have contact with the woman, and he must give up his FOID card, any firearms and his passports, according to the report.

More via the Daily Herald

Muhammad Mahmood, 39 (photo via the Cook County Sheiff's Office)

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