Former NYC Taxi Driver Charged With Rape In Putnam County

PUTNAM COUNTY, NY — A former New York City taxi driver faces charges of first degree rape, criminal sexual act and forcible touching in connection with an assault on the Taconic State Parkway, New York State police said. He was extradited from Florida, where police allege he fled after the attack.

State police said that they were called Sept. 2, 2017 about a sexual assault on the Taconic. They allege that Orlando Martinez Morales, operating as a taxi driver, agreed to drive the victim from New York City to a location north of Albany.

While en route Martinez Morales stopped the vehicle on the shoulder of the Taconic State Parkway, entered the back seat of the vehicle and began sexually assaulting the victim. Martinez Morales then removed the victim from the vehicle, entered the nearby woods, and raped the victim, police said.

After more than two years, police said Martinez Morales was located living in Jacksonville, Florida. On Dec. 5, with the help of Jacksonville Sheriff’s Deputies and New York State Police Investigators assigned to the U.S. Marshall’s Fugitive Task Force, Martinez Morales was taken into custody in Jacksonville, FL, for extradition to New York.

Martinez Morales was arraigned before the Putnam County Supreme Court, and remanded by the Honorable Judge Rooney to the Putnam County Jail in lieu of $250,000 cash bail or $500,000 secure bond.