Darnell K. Booth is a resident of Malden, Massachusetts and former driver for Uber (company).

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Uber Rape Scandal

Darnell faces a rape charge after allegedly assaulting a 16-year-old girl from Everett, Massachusetts he met while driving for the company despite what authorities said was a long criminal history.

Booth pleaded not guilty in Malden District Court Thursday and is being held without bail until a dangerousness hearing Monday.

Police say Booth sexually assaulted the teen July 5, after meeting her through Uber a week earlier.

Assistant District Attorney Carrie A. Spiros called Booth’s criminal record extensive, “with multiple convictions for violent offenses,” but Booth’s lawyer disputed that description — saying that it was mostly misdemeanors and dismissals and that he had been charged just once with sexual assault.

Jo Stringer, Booth’s lawyer, challenged the teenager’s account and said Booth “adamantly asserts” his innocence.

^[2] Booth, who has lived in Dorchester and Lowell, according to records, appeared to collapse at the beginning of the hearing and could be heard sobbing from behind the wood paneling of the prisoner dock.

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Previous Charges/Rape

In February 2016, Booth was charged with operating with a suspended license; a judge in March agreed to dismiss the charge if he paid $300 court costs by September.

On June 11, police pulled Booth over in Charlestown and charged him with having tinted windows and driving with a license plate that belonged to a different vehicle, issuing a citation and summons.

Booth also failed to show at a court hearing in Malden June 28 — to face charges that he parked an unregistered, unlicensed car there in February — leading State Police to arrest him on a warrant the following day, records show.

Booth posted a $40 bail fee and was released that night.

The next day, June 30, he picked up the teenager in Melrose, after her father ordered an Uber to bring her home to Everett, the prosecutor said.

After the trip, Booth added the teen as a friend on the messaging app Snapchat.

On July 4, he messaged her saying he was parked outside and suggested she join him, Spiros said.

The 16-year-old exchanged messages with Booth but stayed inside.

The next morning, though, she texted her summer-school bus driver to say she had overslept and would miss the bus.

Booth sent the teen a Snapchat message asking if she needed a ride to school, and she accepted, the prosecutor said.

After the teen climbed in, Booth drove toward Melrose, then pulled into a “largely abandoned parking lot,” then he ordered the girl to remove her pants, and leaned over and slapped her twice.

Booth climbed over the seat, pinned the girl down, and stripped off her pants and underwear.

“At that point, he raped her,” she said, then took her to school.

After the teen contacted police, forensic analysts found evidence on her T-shirt that is being analyzed.

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