Fake Uber Driver Tied To 5 Rapes By DNA, Cell Phone Evidence: Prosecutors

CHICAGO, IL — A Cook County judge denial bail Wednesday to an accused Glenview serial rapist accused of multiple kidnappings and sexual assaults of women he picked up outside bars and restaurants in the Lakeview and River North Chicago neighborhoods of Chicago, DNAinfo reported.

Musaab Afandi, 33, has been charged in five rape cases in the city and north suburbs, in four of them he pretended to be an Uber driver and in one he picked up a woman in a taxi, prosecutors said. He has been linked to three of the Chicago cases by DNA evidence after being arrested by police in Skokie in March and charged with two counts of sexual assault and kidnapping, where he allegedly took two of the women before raping them at knifepoint.

After his arrest in Skokie, police seized Afandi's cell phone. Prosecutors said it contained photos of one of the women he's accused of raping and a video on which her voice can be heard, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Prosecutors said that in the first incident in Chicago, Afandi picked up a 21-year-old woman at a bar in the 3500 block of Clark Street on April 10, 2016. She had called for a ride with the Uber app and he allegedly pulled up and indicated he was her ride, although he has no known affiliation with the ride-hailing app, according to DNAinfo.

According to prosecutors, Afandi stole the woman's phone after raping her, making her promise not to report the incident before he returned it. After running from the scene, the woman called police and a rape kit was collected at a local hospital, which provided a DNA sample that authorities say matches Afandi, according to the Sun-Times. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Skokie — or your community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

In another instance, Afandi reportedly kidnapped a 27-year-old woman as she left a work Christmas party in the 200 block of West Chicago on Dec. 11, 2016. Prosecutors said the woman remembers getting into a taxi before waking up naked while Afadi was raping her in the taxi's backseat, DNAinfo reported.

He also is accused of additional abductions and assaults on Jan. 15, Feb. 12, March 19.

» Related: Fake Uber Driver Sexually Assaults Two Women In Skokie: Police

According to his arrest report, Afandi is 5-foot, 8-inches and 200 pounds and lists his occupation as 'Taxi Driver."

Afandi's public defender said he takes classes and used to work as a home healthcare provider, according to DNAinfo. but neither he nor prosecutors discussed any current employment at his Sept. 27 bond hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, 2650 S. California. Ave.

His public defender said he lived with his parents in Glenview, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

» Read more from DNAinfo Chicago, Chicago Sun-Times

_{Top photo: Musaab Afandi | Chicago PD}