A Broward County cab driver is accused of kidnapping and sexually battering a female passenger, authorities said Monday.
Ronald Smith, 61, was arrested Sunday by Wilton Manors Police on charges of sexual battery, kidnapping and false imprisonment, jail records showed. He was being held without bond following a Monday court appearance before Broward Judge John Hurley.
During his bond court appearance, Smith's attorney called it a "he-said, she-said case," and said the encounter was consensual.
According to the arrest affidavit read by Hurley, the victim had been using Smith as a cab driver for about a year and called him for a ride on Saturday.
“Since he was like family, I never expected this to happen,” the victim told NBC 6.
Smith took the woman to a hotel in Wilton Manors, but when they arrived, the woman refused to get out of the cab, Hurley said.
“He told me get off the car, and I said no,” the victim said. “Then he showed me a liquid and said if I didn’t get off the car he would put me to sleep with that.”
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The woman got off the car and they both went into the hotel, where the victim claims she was sexually molested, Hurley said.
“I can’t. I just can’t anymore,” the woman said. “I don’t feel I’m the same person I was before.”
Smith then drove the woman to the hospital, Hurley said. The victim said Smith told her not to report the alleged assault or she would be deported.
After the woman reported the alleged crime to police, officers searched Smith's car and found several cans of mace and two stun guns, Hurley said.
